


Pain and Palaces

by LeeGale



Series: Ad lunam, ut amica, ut mi stultus [16]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: A lot - Freeform, Abuse, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Akechi is a little different, Death, F/F, Flirting, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Sorry, I'm so sorry, Kidnapping, Kinda, Like, M/M, Murder, OOC, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post Sae Palace, Suicide, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Violence, um...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:47:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 25,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24641113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeeGale/pseuds/LeeGale
Summary: Mishima's in a lot of trouble now...
Relationships: Amamiya Ren/Mishima Yuuki, Kitagawa Yusuke/Sakamoto Ryuji, Kurusu Akira/Mishima Yuuki, Mishima Yuuki/Persona 5 Protagonist, Niijima Makoto/Okumura Haru
Series: Ad lunam, ut amica, ut mi stultus [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1695079
Comments: 4
Kudos: 36





	1. Taken

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drugs and assault in this chapter

That night, after going home, Mishima found that he couldn't sleep. it happened sometimes, nightmares keeping him awake or fear stopping him from relaxing, but that night was particularly bad... It didn't help that it almost felt like he was being watched... Since he couldn't sleep, Mishima decided to work on the Phansite, deleting as much hate as he could. Seeing the people that once cheered the Phantom Thieves on being like that... It made something in Mishima ache, but he ignored that. He knew that he had to keep the site running, for the few people that still went to the Thieves for help. So he pushed through, ignoring how he felt as he deleted comment after comment after comment... Sleep did decide to come for him, eventually, though, so he pushed his laptop to the side and let the darkness creep in...

-=-=-=-=-=-=

Someone else was there. Mishima startled awake. For a split second, he thought the noise that woke him was one of his parents. But they were dead... The sound came again. Instinctively, Mishima reached for his drawer, yanking it open and seizing the knife he always kept in there (he used to have one under his pillow, but his parents got pissed at him for that. Of course, none of them thought it was a good idea for him to have no protection, considering who his parents were, so he kept one in a drawer instead.). Once it was in his hand, he silently slid out of bed, taking his phone with him as he tiptoed to his door, pressing his ear against it to hear if anyone was in the hallway. It seemed they were... Inaudibly, he crept to his window, ready to slip out that way. His heart raced as he peeked through the glass, no one in sight... Unlatching the window proved to be a more difficult task, the entire thing stiff and awkward, and opening it was even worse. Especially considering how quiet he had to be... Eventually, Mishima got it open, but only as a sound came from right outside of his door. He got ready to climb out, already perched on the window ledge, but he was suddenly greeted with darkness...

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The next thing Mishima knew, he was in an unfamiliar room, blinded by bright lights and hands cuffed behind his chair. Breath catching, he took a moment to consider what had happened. He'd woken up to a strange noise and had tried to escape, only to black out at the last second... What had happened? The last thing he could remember was being on his window ledge... Moving his head to examine the room, Mishima was suddenly pelted with a wave of agony, nausea quickly following with a rush of dizziness. Together, that combined to imply that he'd hit his head... That would explain why he'd suddenly blacked out. But Mishima had no idea what was going on. Where was he? Why was he there? What time was it? How long had he been out? Had he been missing for long?  _ Had anyone even noticed?  _ What-

The door opening distracted the bluenette, who blinked in surprise at what he saw. The men seemed... familiar, for some reason... He didn't know why, but they were. What was going on here? Who were those men? Why-

"Mishima Yuuki, you are being held due to your association with the criminals the Phantom Thieves," one of the men (tall, dark-haired and blue-eyed with a slight accent) stated, slamming a file onto the table in front of Mishima. It took the teen a second to register what had been said, his head still fuzzy, but his eyes widened when he did. They knew he worked with the Thieves? Did they know about Akira? Would he be okay? What-

"We are aware of the fact that you run the Phantom Thief Afficinado Website," a different man spoke up, glaring at Mishima, "Tell us what you know about them."

Oh. They didn't know about Akira and the others. They wanted to use him to get to them... He wouldn't let that happen. Stealing himself, he took a deep breath and stated, "I... I wish to invoke my right to a lawyer."

The third man who had entered snarled, prowling closer until he gripped Mishima's hair and growled right into his ear, "Listen here, you brat. No one knows you're here, no one  _ cares.  _ You're stuck here until we get what we want. So. Tell us what you know."

Mishima breathed through the pain as the man yanked his head back, brain still fuzzy as he tried to work through his options. He was in danger. There was no doubt about that. But why him? They must have figured that he knew something... But why  _ now _ ? If they wanted info, they could have gone after him as soon as Okumura died, so they must have had a reason to go for him now... What had changed? Wh-

Before Mishima even had the chance to continue his train of thought, he felt a sharp prick to his neck and was enveloped in darkness again...

-=-=-=-=

Some time passed before Mishima regained consciousness again, and this time he was in a different position. He'd been taken from his chair and left on the cold, hard floor with his hands cuffed in front of him... He tried to sit up, but the wave of nausea that hit him as he tried to move his head almost knocked him back out, so he stayed still. Head still fuzzy, he took a moment to remember what he could. He'd been kidnapped (cops? Public Security Intelligence Agency? Someone else?) and they wanted info on the Phantom Thieves... 

He took a moment to breathe, fighting down the panic that tried to well up in him. He knew that he couldn't sell Akira and the others out. He couldn't. Not after all they did... But, judging by the pain that wracked his body, the people holding him had no qualms about beating or drugging him until he told them what they wanted to know... Not that Mishima would let the pain make him say anything. He'd sat through beating after beating after beating, there was nothing they could do to him that he wouldn't be able to shut down... But the drugs were a bigger issue. He often lacked a filter if he was ill or tired, so there was no telling what he'd accidentally say when  _ drugged _ ... He'd just have to make sure he didn't speak at all. That was all he could do...

The sound of the door scraping open caught the teen's attention, but he shut his eyes to block it out. If he managed to imagine that he was elsewhere, he'd be able to ignore the pain, he'd be able to get through this, he'd- A blinding pain shot through him as he was lifted from the floor by just his hair, being pulled completely off of it and being held with his feet barely scratching the ground. He yelped, reaching up to fight the hand in his hair as his eyes flew open, but what he saw in front of him made him freeze. Akechi stood near the door, watching the display with a carefully sculpted blank expression. Mishima blinked, trying to make the image go away, but it didn't. Akechi was there... Burning rage boiled his blood as he ignored the man holding him up, glaring at Akechi.

"Akechi," he spat, tone nothing short of venomous. The detective almost flinched, something akin to regret dancing behind his eyes as Mishima continued, "What is happening?"

"You are under arrest for your connection to the Phantom Thieves," Akechi replied, voice steady. However, that was the only thing about him that didn't seem affected. Obviously without his permission, the detective's entire being was tense, muscles pulled tight and jaw clenched as pained eyes watched Mishima. That didn't stop the bluenette in question opening his mouth to retort, only to cut himself off with a pained yelp when the man holding him up threw him back down. Akechi took a step forward then, his expression softening into something more human and scared before returning to that mostly stoic statue as he stated, "You will tell us everything you know."

Mishima got ready to argue, despite his splitting headache, but the man who'd just thrown him to the ground kicked his arm against the wall. There was a sickening  _ crack  _ as agony radiated from that arm, but Mishima was able to keep his reaction to a minimum, just whimpering and biting his lip tightly. He'd suffered worse before, all he had to do was breathe through it and imagine he was somewhere else, somewhere safer, somewhere where he wouldn't be hurt... Of course, that was easier said than done, especially when the man who'd probably broken his arm kicked his leg with too much force for Mishima's already pained body to handle. As the man raised his foot, looking ready to stomp on Mishima's knee, Akechi told him to stop.

"We won't be able to get anything from him if he is in too much pain," the detective stated, glaring slightly at the man, "I can handle him."

"But-"

"Leave the room," Akechi cut the man off quickly, his glare darkening. Not that Mishima saw that, his eyes shut so he could focus on breathing through the pain. He heard the guard try to argue again, but Akechi shut him down once more with a firm, "He may be associated with the Phantom Thieves, but he is clearly not one of them, thus he does not deserve that treatment. Get me a medical kit and I will deal with his injuries, then interrogate him. But not until his wounds are dealt with."

There was a moment of silence before the guard sighed, yanking Mishima to his feet and dragging him to the table in the centre of the room. He dropped the teen on the chair, shoving his head against the table as he did before leaving. Thankfully, that didn't do too much damage, at least for such a violent move. Mishima had heard a crack when his face hit the table, his nose was throbbing and blood was gushing from the aforementioned facial feature and his lip, but he wasn't too bad otherwise... He left himself like that, face pressed against the table, as he tried to combat the nausea that had overtaken him when he was moved. As he took deep, grounding breaths, he heard Akechi move closer. Before the detective could touch him, however, he glared up at him.

"Fuck. Off," he growled, ignoring how his lips stung at the movement. Akechi looked hurt for a split second before a faux confident appearance overtook his face, but Mishima cut him off before he could speak, "You had me kidnapped, you fucking nutjob."

Akechi scowled then, kneeling so he could get a better look at Mishima's face as he muttered, "Actually, the PSIA did. I told them you weren't important to the Thieves, to protect you, but they didn't believe me. They seem to think that kidnapping you and using you for information is a viable option if my plan fails."

His... plan? Akechi had a plan in the works? Why... He wanted to take down the Phantom Thieves. Mishima knew it. Akechi had been playing the others so he could lay out some sort of trap. He-

The guard who'd beaten Mishima returned with a medkit just then. He raised an eyebrow at the sight of Akechi on his knees, but the detective sent him a cool glare and stated in an even cooler voice, "Before you ask, I am checking that the prisoner has not got a concussion or brain damage. Since you thought it wise to smash his head against the table."

For half a second, the guard looked chastised, but his mask of indifference was soon in place again as he dropped the kit on the table and left. As soon as he was out of the room, Akechi frowned and returned to Mishima, reaching out to touch the bluenette's face. However, the younger teen flinched away before he could, eyes full of contempt.

"Don't. Touch. Me," he hissed between clenched teeth, and Akechi scowled.

"I'm trying to help you-"

"I don't want or need your help," Mishima growled, his rage drowning out the agony he was in, "You know exactly who the Thieves are, and still let the fuckers kidnap me for that information. I've been kidnapped, drugged and beaten. You know who they are and you have some sort of plan in place to catch them, and you let them-"

"I never would have let them hurt you! I didn't know they were going to kidnap you, let alone drug and beat you!" Akechi cut him off, his voice desperate and eyes wide. Mishima blinked in surprise, the exact mirror of the look Akechi wore before he forced his face under control and continued in a much more level way, "They asked me to look into information on you, and I informed them that you are unlikely to know much about the actual inner workings of the Thieves. They agreed that they would not harm you or go after you, yet I was notified just over an hour ago that they had you in custody. I was not aware that they planned on taking you from your home or hurting you in any way."

There was something about the way he spoke and how he acted that seemed... genuine. It was the most honest he had ever looked to Mishima... The bluenette hesitated before sighing and turning so he was facing Akechi, muttering an annoyed, "I. don't trust you. I don't like you. But... I can't look after my own wounds right now, so I have to deal with you."

Akechi seemed to brighten at that, a small smile tugging at his lips as he grabbed the medkit and got to work on cleaning and looking after Mishima's face wounds. The younger teen forced himself to stay as still as possible throughout the process, ignoring how much he hated Akechi's touch by reminding himself that it was a necessary evil... The detective soon moved onto Mishima's arm, uncuffing him and setting up a makeshift splint and sling for his broken arm (his left one, thankfully...). Once that was done, Akechi made sure the other teen was comfortable before cuffing him again, although it was only his good arm and it was done to the chair he was sat on, and sitting in the chair opposite him.

"... I apologise for how you have been treated," the detective stated, voice purposefully steady, "and I apologise for what is going to happen to your boyfriend."

For a split second, Mishima was confused. He didn't have a boyfriend, he- He was faking a relationship with Akira. He- Wait, what? What was going to happen to Akira? Was he going to be hurt? What-

"Our plan is in place, and he will be taken into custody later today," Akechi's voice pulled Mishima from his thoughts, making the bluenette freeze. If they were going to take Akira into custody, they'd do even worse to him than they have Mishima...

"Touch him and I'll kill you," Mishima growled, fingers itching to grab either Akechi's throat or a knife. The detective paled slightly at the threat before opening his mouth, but Mishima cut him off lowly, "Don't. You have no idea what good he's done. You-"

"He killed Okumura-"

"Bullshit!" Mishima cut Akechi's protest of quickly, glaring darkly. He ignored the way his entire body was aching, the way his head was fuzzy, the way he  _ just wanted to sleep _ , in favour of snarling, "We both know they were set up. None of them are like that. None of them are killers-"

"Akira has a criminal rec-"

"Those charges were trumped up by the fucker Akira tried to stop  _ raping a woman!"  _ Mishima's voice was nothing short of pissed as a hidden darkness danced in his eyes. Akechi blinked in surprise and opened his mouth to argue, but he didn't get the chance. Mishima cut him off with a dangerous, "You don't know him. You don't know any of them. They will find a way out of whatever trap you're setting."

"But will they come for you?" Akechi asked, and Mishima's heart stopped. He... He hadn't thought of that. Would they come for him? Did they care enough? Would  _ Akira _ care enough? Would-

"Yes," the blue teen replied, voice as steady as he could make it, "because, unlike you, they care about people."

Akechi's entire demeanour changed then, something akin to pain dancing behind his eyes as he muttered out in a small voice, "I've never really had anyone to care about before..."

Eyes widening, Mishima examined Akechi. The older teen seemed... honest, like he was telling the truth... But it was probably just a ploy to earn Mishima's sympathy, to make Mishima weak... The bluenette wouldn't allow that, just raising an eyebrow to show Akechi that he was curious but didn't believe him. The older teen hesitated for a split second, but his phone rang before he could speak. He sent Mishima and apologetic look before answering it, standing up and walking out of the room. Mishima was left alone with just his pain... He finally let himself react to the agony as much as he really needed to, curling in one himself as much as he could as he took several deep breaths. God, it fucking hurt... It had been quite some time since he'd been in this much pain, the last time being when his parents had still been alive...

He swallowed the pain, forcing it to the back of his mind as he considered his options. He had no idea how long he'd been missing, but it could only have been a day at most, since he hadn't eaten or drank anything during his captivity... At least, the thought so. If they'd given his something whilst he was too drugged to pay proper attention, that was a completely different thing. But it seemed unlikely, the dehydration that was creeping at the edges of Mishima's suggesting that he hadn't had anything to drink in only a day or so ( _ and,  _ he thought,  _ it's bad that I know how long I've been here based on how dehydrated I am. Mother and Father fucked me over more than expected...) _ . He took a moment to breathe before tensing at the sound of the door opening. Quickly, too quickly, he looked at the source, frowning when he saw that it was someone he knew, other than Akechi...

"Niijima?"


	2. Niijima

The older Niijima sister blinked at the sight of Mishima, hurt and handcuffed to the table, before just sitting opposite him. The blue teen couldn't believe it. Niijima... Did her sister know? That the older Niijima was okay with someone like Mishima being kidnapped? If she did, did the rest of the Phantom Thieves? What was the prosecutor going to do to him? What was going to happen? What-

"I'm surprised that you are the person they've taken in for your connection to the Phantom Thieves, Mishima," Nijima started, pulling a file from her bag, "According to the evidence collected against you, you run the Phantom Thief Aficionado website, and many of the people who have been posted on there have had their hearts changed... I'm here to question you about your connection to the Thieves."

"Ask Akechi anything. He knows who they are," Mishima retorted, glaring at the woman in front of him. She raised an eyebrow at his tone, but he didn't say anything else, so she sighed.

"If you tell me everything you know, we can get you a plea bargain," she stated, but Mishima just shook his head (even as it hurt. He couldn't risk saying any more, in case the drugs still in his system made him reveal something). Niijim frowned, flicking through her file before showing Mishima the page. Eyes widening, he took a quick inhale, tensing at the photo he could see. Kamoshida... He gulped before looking away from the picture, forcing the fear that clawed at his heart down. He was in jail, he couldn't do anything else, he-

"The first case of the Phantom Thieves was when they somehow got Kamoshida to confess to everything he had done at your school. Which included everything he did to you. He-"

"He is a bastard who deserves to rot in jail," Mishima snarled, glaring at Niijima, "Can we not talk about one of the most traumatic times of my life now?"

Niijima blinked in surprise at that before speaking up, "He couldn't have been that ba-"

"If you know his confession, what he did, and if you finish that sentence, you're lying to yourself," Mishima hissed, fighting against the memories that threatened to overwhelm him. He would not have a panic attack now, not when he's being held captive... Niijima opened her mouth, probably to argue, but Mishima cut her off again, "Ask your questions if you must. I won't necessarily answer them, but if you want to ask, make it quick. I've been drugged and beaten enough today, I need some fucking sleep."

There was a moment of silence as Niijima looked horrified, but she managed to pull herself together and ask, "Why do you support the Phantom Thieves, even after they killed Okumura?"

"They were set up," Mishima hissed, voice full of so much conviction and hatred that Niijima almost flinched, "They aren't killers. The only way it could have been their fault was if it was an accident."

Niijima opened her mouth, probably to press, so Mishima continued, "They just want to help people. That's all they've done, but you think they'd kill someone?"

"They sent Okumura a calling card, then he died. It's no coincidence," Niijima replied cooly, and Mishima scoffed. He ignored how his instincts were screaming at him to just tell her what she wanted, so he could go home and not be hurt anymore, keeping his mask in place. He hated being so angry, letting Niijima know how he was feeling, but he kept it up as he responded.

"They wanted to change his heart, since he was  _ abusing his power and his people _ ," Mishima spat, shaking with barely concealed rage, "And none of their prior targets had ever been killed."

"They are a threat to society," Niijima argued, but there was something in her eyes, something different... It was almost like she was scared... Mishima frowned before he realised what was wrong with her.

"They sent you a calling card. And you have a part to play in Akechi's plan to capture them, but you're scared that you'll die too," he surmised, smirking a little when Niijima's eyes widened. His smirk grew even more as he leaned back in his chair, the perfect picture of nonchalance, "You've been forging evidence to find them, haven't you? You've let your desire to capture them distort you, change you..."

"I..." Niijima looked like she wanted to argue, but it was clear that she couldn't. Mishima let her stew for a long moment before sitting upright with a sigh.

"I'm not selling them out to you. No matter how much you drug or hurt me. They... They saved my life, more times than they know... They deserve better," he stated, frowning as he looked down at Niijima's file. The sight of Kamoshida, the bastard that hurt him so much, made Mishima's gut swirl with rage, hatred and fear, but he pushed that away as he continued, much quieter and more subdued, "They aren't the enemy... They just want to help people..."

"You don't know that-"

"I do," Mishima cut Niijima off, head spinning a little when he looked up too fast, "I do. They've saved me, my entire school, countless others... I'd be dead if they hadn't stopped Kamoshida."

"You can't be certain-"

"I can be, actually. If he hadn't killed me, he planned on having me expelled from school because I stood up to him after Suzui tried to... to commit suicide. If he'd managed to do that, I'd be dead. M... My parent's were abusive, as I'm sure my file states after it was revealed when Father committed his murder/suicide. I... If Kamoshida had gotten me expelled, they would have either killed me themselves or kicked me out. And if they kicked me out... I'd have killed myself," Mishima countered, hating that he had to tell Niijima that to get his point across. Not that it seemed to do much, since she continued to argue that the Phantom Thieves were bad... Mishima sighed, shaking his head as his eyelids grew heavier and heavier...

"Niijima, I am on the edge of passing out right now," he muttered, cutting off the spiel she had started up about the Thieves, "What else do you have to say?"

Niijima stopped, frowning, before sighing and standing up. She hesitated, grabbing the file then stating, "I will leave you to sleep, for now. But I'll be back once we have completed the plan."

Mishima watched as she left, groaning as soon as she was gone. He tried to fight the exhaustion that pulled at him, but he couldn't... He was just so tired... He- Sleep overtook him within minutes. 


	3. Akira

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter includes Akira's 'suicide' so... I'm sorry? It hurt a shit ton to write so... oof. Also, the reason these parts aren't one shots like the rest of the series is because they're even more closely connected that the other parts. But we'll be back to one shots after this!

Mishima didn't know how long he'd managed to sleep, but it certainly didn't feel like long enough as he was roused by the sound of the door opening. It took him a split second to remember what had happened and where he was, but not as long as it could have. That meant the drugs had run their course... The teen forced himself to sit up and look towards the door, blinking in surprise at what he saw... Niijima didn't, outwardly, look that different as she sat down opposite Mishima, but something in her eyes was not the same... However, the sight of her reminded Mishima of Akechi's plan and her promise to come see him after everything was done...

"We have Kurusu Akira, the leader of the Phantom Thieves, in our custody," Niijima stated, freezing Mishima's heart. No. Not Akira. He... There was no way the other Thieves would just let him get captured, they had to have some sort of plan, they-

"I've already interrogated him, and he said that you had no actual connection the Phantom Thieves apart from the Phansite and your relationship with him. Is that true?" Niijima's voice pulled Mishima from his thoughts, only to make him contemplate his options. If he told the truth, said he knew who they were, Akira would get in trouble for lying. And if he lied, he'd probably be free to go, so he could try to help from outside...... But if he lied and they found out, he'd be screwed. But helping Akira... Mishima came to a decision quickly, nodding to agree with Niijima. She clearly didn't believe him but didn't say anything, sighing and standing.

"I will tell the higher-ups, and they will let you go," she stated, hesitating before she sighed and continued, "I'm sorry. That this happened to you."

Once she was gone, Mishima felt the mask he'd managed to force on slipping. Akira was... He would likely be beaten and drugged too, although it would definitely be worse than what Mishima went through... But he was strong. He'd find a way to get through it... He- He'd be executed if the cops managed to prove who he was! Shit. Fuck! Mishima couldn't let that happen, he had to find a way to show the Thieves hadn't killed Okumura, he-

The door opened again, but this time Akechi walked in. The sight of the detective made Mishima's blood boil as he scowled, spitting out, "Are you happy now? You have Akira in custody..."

Akechi frowned at him, stepping forward, but Mishima growled low in his throat and glared so darkly that he stopped. Hesitating, the older teen sighed and spoke soothingly, "He had a hand in killing Okumura, we-"

"We both know that's bullshit," Mishima cut him off quickly, tone nothing short of loathing as his eyes flashed dangerously, "What do you want from me?"

Akechi hesitated again before sighing, walking closer. Mishima got ready to be hit, prepared to take a punch, but Akechi didn't even try to hurt him. Rather, he just pulled out a key and uncuffed Mishima, carefully and gently rubbing the younger teen's wrist as he murmured, "I have been instructed to take you to medical, so that you may be examined and have your injuries treated by a professional, then take you to your aunts, so that she can look after you until the damage done to your home is fixed and until you are well enough to be on your own..."

Mishima stayed silent, unable to pull his arm away from Akechi's tight grip, until someone else walked in and spoke up, "Akechi. I have been told to help you get the pris- get Mishima to medical."

Akechi nodded before gently helping Mishima to his feet. As soon as he was stood, the bluenette snarled and stepped away, moving so he was closer to the guard than the detective. Akechi tried to stand next to him, so Mishima hissed out, "Don't. The most important person in my life is here because of you. So don't. Even. Try. Me. Or so help me, I will beat you to a fucking bloody mess, broken arm or not."

Akechi tried to open his mouth to argue, the guard spoke up first, "I think we should get Mishima to medical before he follows through on that promise."

The bluenette in question nodded, already storming out of the room. The guard and Akechi followed him quickly, the former giving him directions to the medical area. Once there, the teen forced himself to sit still as a doctor made sure he was okay. Thankfully, his arm didn't need surgery, but he did have to stay as it was set in a cast...

-=-=-=-=

After several hours, Mishima was finally allowed to go home. The guard who had helped him to the med centre had finished her shift and was replaced by a younger man, but Akechi had stayed. In fact, he insisted on going with Mishima to his aunt's. The younger teen tried to argue, but was quickly distracted by a trolley being rolled in. His heart stopped at what he saw. Akira... The other teen was pale and lifeless, a single gunshot wound to his head. It... No. It couldn't be real, it-

"You need to leave now Mishima," Akechi said urgently, trying to pull the bluenette away. Mishima didn't let him, though, yanking his arm away and rushing over to Akira's side. The doctor's tried to stop him, but he pushed through.

"N... No! That... He's my boyfriend!" he yelled, forcing his way forward until he was right by Akira's side. He reached out, gripping Akira's hand tightly and whispered, "N... No... You can't be... No... Come on, this has to be fake, there's no way-"

"When I checked up on him, he was already dead," a guard stated, voice soothing, "He committed suicide..."

Mishima shook his head, fighting against the hands that tried to pull him away from Akira as tears welled in his eyes. Akira... He wouldn't have done that. He  _ couldn't  _ have! He was the reason Mishima hadn't, why he was still alive, why he even bothered any more...

"Mishima. He's dead," Akechi spoke softly, trying to calm the grieving bluenette, but it didn't work. Instead, Mishima let go of Akira's hand and whirled around, punching Akechi right in the nose. There was a wave of gasps and shouts, but Mishima paid that no mind as he fell to his knees, bringing his working hand up to his face and sobbing into it.

"It... It's your fault," he accused, glaring at Akechi through his tears, "I... If it weren't for you and your plan, he wouldn't be dead...  _ It's all your fault!" _

"Mishima, I-"

"What... What's going on here?" Niijima Sae's voice cut through the hubbub, and Mishima turned his venomous gaze on her.

"Are you happy? You and Akechi got what you want! Akira's dead!" he yelled, barely able to believe it. But he knew it was true... The proof was being wheeled away as he kneeled there, curling in on himself and overwhelmed. Akira was dead... He... Why? Why would he do that? Why would he leave Mishima? Didn't he know? God, he had to have known that he was why Mishima kept fighting, he had to have... Why did he do it? He had so much to live for! He... He meant so much to so many people, he'd changed so many lives, he-

"Mishima, I-"

Niijima was cut off a loud sob escaping Mishima. The teen couldn't help it, his rage and pain and anguish escaping him suddenly. Akira was- He was dead... He... He was the main reason Mishima even tried anymore! He'd helped Mishima fight and he'd done so much good and-

"Mishima, listen to me," Niijima whispered, kneeling next to the distraught teen, "You'll be okay... It's okay, you-"

"You don't fucking understand!" Mishima snarled, pulling away from the woman when tried to touch him, "He saved me countless times! He means everything to me! I fucking love him!"

Niijima blinked in surprise, silent as Mishima shook his head and forced himself to his feet shakily. Akechi reached out to help him, but the bluenette sent him such a dark look that he visibly flinched. Mishima then turned to the guard who was supposed to take him to his aunt and hissed, "Take me to my aunt before I fucking kill Akechi."

The guard visibly paled but agreed, rushing Mishima out of the room. Akechi tried to argue, but Mishima once again whirled around and punched him, hitting his nose again. This time, there was a satisfying  _ crack _ and the detective yelped out in pain. Mishima smirked at him, eyes dark as he growled, "Fucking come near me again and I. Will. Kill. You."

He then followed his driver out of the room, silent as they made their way to the car park. Of course, they were stopped once they got there, two men in black suits in their way. Mishima glared at them, stepping forward and snarling, "I'll sign whatever disclosure shit you need me to so that I don't tell anyone, but then I'm fucking leaving."

One of the men raised an eyebrow at him, but the other didn't react at all. Except for pulling out a piece of paper and a pen. Mishima took both, reading the paper quickly, stunned by how good of a deal he was getting, before signing on the dotted line. The three men around him were surprised that it had been so easy to get him to agree, but they didn't know one little secret he had... The guard unlocked the car as soon as the paper was signed, so Mishima got into the back seat, yanking it shut behind him. After that, it was only a matter of minutes before the car was on the road. As the building Mishima had been held in (the police station, surprisingly) disappeared from view, the teen found himself having to fight back even more tears. But he wouldn't cry. He had to keep it in until he was somewhere safe...

The drive to Kawakami's was silent and quick, Mishima too busy trying not to break down and the guard unsure what to say... Once they finally got to Kawakami's, Mishima rushed out of the car before the engine was even off. It was still dark, probably early morning, so Kawakami had to be in... Mishima pressed on the doorbell as the guard who driven him left with no words. It was silent for a long moment, but eventually the light in one of the upstairs rooms turned on, followed by the faint sound of someone stomping down the stairs... The sound of keys in the lock preluded the door opening, and Kawakami's shocked gasp.

"Yuuki?" the woman asked, carefully reaching out and pressing a hand against the teen's cheek. He hissed at the touch, his cheek stinging because of how that man had smashed his face against the table, and Kawakami pulled her hand away like she'd be burnt. Frowning, she moved to the side and let Mishima in. Thoughtlessly, the teen walked to the kitchen and got himself a glass of water. Kawakami followed, already speaking softly, "What happened Yuuki? You didn't come to school, you didn't call or text me, you haven't answered your phone and one of your windows was broken when I went to your house! What-"

"Due to a disclosure agreement, I cannot tell you what happened or where I was. All I can tell you is that I was kidnapped, drugged and beaten by people with more power than either of us," Mishima cut her off, voice monotone as he tried to fight against the emotions that threatened to drown him. He couldn't break. If he did, he wouldn't be able to pull himself together again and he'd d something crazy and- Kawakami carefully pulled him into a hug, mindful of how he was hurt.

"I... I see," she stuttered out, pulling away with a frown, "but something else happened... Didn't it?"

Mishima hesitated, but all it took for his walls to crumble around him was one more concerned look from Kawakami. The blue teen hid his face in his aunt's shoulder, his entire body shaking as he wept and muttered out a pained, "I can't tell you... B... But it'll probably be on the news soon..."

Kawakami didn't understand what was happening with Mishima, but she didn't press, instead making sure to hold Mishima tightly until his crying subsided. Once it did, she made them both a cup of tea and they drank in silence. Neither knew what to do or say... Kawakami eventually suggested they both try to sleep, and Mishima agreed. Soon, Kawakami was in her room as Mishima lay on the futon in her spare room. His eyes drifted over to the window, where the sun was just starting to rise...

_ I could jump out of there. It could kill me...  _ he thought absentmindedly, but another part of his brain shut it down with a firm,  _ No. I need to survive. Aunt... She'd suffer if I did that. And I need to get justice for Akira... I can't do that. I can't... _

Turning his head away from the window, he forced his eyes to shut, and soon was asleep...


	4. News

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm seriouwly sorry for hurting y'all like this. Even more thoughts of suicide in this part... But you guys should be able to guess where we're going next! So that's better!

Mishima was right. Akira's suicide was all over the news the next day, all newscasters revealing it after school let out, although the didn't use his name. They just said that the leader of the Phantom Thieves had committed suicide... Mishima hadn't gone to school that day, staying at Kawakami's. The teacher had tried to stay for the day, stating that she didn't want to leave Mishima alone after what he'd been through, but he forced her to go, saying that it'd be suspicious if she was off... So the teen was alone when the news broke, Kawakami not quite back yet because she promised to go to his house and grab him a change of clothes, his school stuff, laptop and phone. 

The reminder that Akira was dead... It knocked Mishima off of his feet and he had to force himself to leave the kitchen before he did something he would have regretted. Instead, he found himself sat in the living room, using Kawakami's laptop to check on the Phansite. It was... not great, people saying that Akira was a coward for killing himself or that he deserved it and calling for Mishima to make a statement about what had happened... The teen in question forced himself to take a deep, grounding breath and type out a post. He had to edit it several times, spending over an hour on it, but he eventually got what he thought could work...

** To users of the Phansite, **

** I am the Admin, and I know some of you want me to make a statement on the suicide of the Phantom Thief leader. So here it is... **

** In truth, I am not sure what I can say. I have always been and will always be a supporter of the Thieves, so this death has been a powerful blow to me. But I will not back down, and I hope those of you who still support the Thieves won't either. Yes, their leader is dead, but we aren't. And yes, people are saying that he deserved to die, or that he is a coward, but I don't agree. He is a martyr. He died trying to reform society, and we will not let his death be in vain. The Phantom Thieves did not kill Okumura, I'm sure of that. And they are not bad people. I will continue to support them, despite public opinion, despite what any of you may say on my site, despite the hatred. **

** What about you? Will you help fight for social reform? Will you continue to let us live in a society where a teenager (which the leader was if you pay actual attention to the news sources) has to put his life in danger for the better of everyone, only to be criticised by those who were supposedly his 'fans' and have to kill himself so that people will pay attention to his cause? Will you stay silent as people are oppressed and abused and taken advantage of? Or will you do what the Phantom Thieves have only ever wanted, and fight for equality? Will you stand by us? Or will you turn the other cheek? **

** Sincerely, Admin. **

** P.S. I am keeping the site up because the other Thieves are still around. Even without their leader, I'm sure they will find a way to keep fighting. So please, send in your support. And thank you to those of you who have supported the Thieves, even since Okumura. **

Mishima reread the statement several times before posting it. Once it was up, he closed the site and went to YouTube. He needed to drown his sorrows in Shane and Ryan's banter...

-=-=-=-=

When Kawakami got back an hour later, it was to the sight of Mishima still sat on the couch, forcing himself to focus on the computer screen in front of him. As soon as he realised that his aunt was back, the teen shot up, rushing to help her with his things, but she told him to sit down.

"You can't do much with a broken arm, Yuuki," she stated, rolling her eyes fondly as she put his laptop and phone on the couch next to her own laptop. Mishima hesitated before sighing and grabbing his phone. It was dead... He sighed again, gratefully taking his phone from Kawakami when she offered it to him and muttering a quick thanks before plugging it into the extension lead he'd been using to charge her laptop. He then connected his phone and left it on the couch to charge before logging out of his aunt's laptop and setting up his own. Once that was done, he was quick to check on the responses he'd gotten to his statement about Akira's... about Akira. Most of them were the same thing, people mocking and criticising him for his faith, but some people agreed with him, defending him and saying that they'd stand with him to help change society... Seeing that support filled Mishima with something he hadn't felt since he saw Akira - hope. Hope that they could actually change things, hope that he could survive this, hope that not everything was lost... With that done, he focused on his aunt, asking if she needed any help with dinner. She refused, saying that they were having take-out ramen and that she'd already ordered, so Mishima just sat back down on the couch. It was quiet for a while, Mishima losing himself in his thoughts of what had happened the previous day and Kawakami busy putting everything away... At least, until Kawakami finished and sat next to Mishima.

"I saw the news..." the older woman murmured, and Mishima nearly flinched at the reminder that Akira was dead, that the one person Mishima had ever truly loved was no longer breathing, that he'd committed suicide-

"I... I'm so sorry, Yuuki," Kawakami whispered, pulling Mishima into her chest. The teen didn't respond for a long moment, feeling surprisingly numb, but was eventually able to speak.

"We weren't even actually dating..." he muttered, earning himself a curious noise from Kawakami, "We... We pretended we were because Akechi wouldn't get off of my back... He had feelings for someone else..."

Kawakami didn't know what to say, so she just stayed silent. The pair remained like that, silently hugging, until there was a knock at the door. They separated so Kawakami could get the food and Mishima pulled up a movie for them to watch as they ate. He needed the distraction... 

When they both had their food, they ate in silence, Mishima too caught up in his own mind to speak and Kawakami unsure as to what she could say...

Once they were both done, Mishima finally turned on his phone, blinking in surprise when he saw the influx of messages that he had received... There was obviously all of the missed texts and calls he'd gotten from Kawakami, but they were accompanied by ones from Futaba, Takemi, Sakamoto and Akechi, along with a few that made Mishima's heart squeeze. Akira... His were all sent before he was captured... Mishima pushed through the way his mind was screaming at him about Akira being dead in favour of going through his texts, starting at the earliest ones in his contacts, except for Akira's...

** Sakamoto: dude u ok? not like u 2 miss school w/ calling/txting before **

** Sakamoto: dude were getting worried now **

** Sakamoto: dude pick up **

** Sakamoto: if uve seen the news dont freak out. its ok **

The first three messages were from the day before... Mishima looked at the last text, which had been sent just after the news of Akira's suicide had broke. He had to force back a pained chuckle at the irony that he knew about Akira's suicide before his best friend... Instead, he typed out a quick reply, lying easily.

_ Me: Sorry I worried you by not being in. I was mugged on my way home from LeBlanc the day before yesterday and have been taking it easy since. _

_ Me: And I did see the news. How is everyone taking it? _

_ Me: I'm sorry about Akira. _

Mishima took a deep breath before clicking on the next chat, frowning to himself as he read the texts.

** Takamaki: Hey Mishima! Are you okay? It's not like you to miss school! **

** Takamaki: Okay, everyone is getting worried now **

** Takamaki: You missed school today too. What's wrong? **

** Takamaki: Have you seen the news? **

The first two messages had been sent on the day prior, the others on that very day... Mishima's heart ached for Akira's friends. They'd lost their friend and their leader... He forced himself to type out a quick response.

_ Me: Sorry I had to miss school. I was mugged the day before yesterday and have been recovering. _

_ Me: And yes, I've seen the news. _

_ Me: I'm so sorry about Akira. _

He hesitated, considering saying more, but forced himself to move onto the next chat, which was full of messages from Akechi. The detective seemed to be pleading for forgiveness... Mishima scoffed, scowling despite his split lip as he blocked Akechi's number. The fucking bastard had the balls to think Mishima would forgive him, after he had a hand in Akira's death? Yeah, fucking hell would freeze over before he did that... Ignoring the various murderous thoughts looping through his head, Mishima focused on the most recent chat, Futaba's...

** Futaba: evry1s freaking out bc u werent at scool. u ok **

** Futaba: I hacked ur phone and it says ur at home. Pick up **

** Futaba: Yuuki. You're worrying me **

** Futaba: If you've seen the news, come over to LeBlanc after school hours tomorrow.  **

The first two messages were sent the day before and the second two were from that day... Mishima sighed and figured that Futaba probably just wanted him to see her because she needed emotional support or thought he did... He replied after a moment of debating if going to LeBlanc would be a good idea.

_ Me: Sorry for not replying. I was mugged day before yesterday and have been resting since. _

_ Me: I did see the news. I'll be there around five tomorrow. _

As he waited for Sakamoto, Takamaki and Futaba to reply, Mishima realised he couldn't put reading Akira's texts off forever, and it made more sense to just rip the plaster off and do it quickly... After a split-second of indecision, he clicked on the chat...

** Akira: Hey are you okay? You weren't at school today. **

** Akira: Yuuki? Text one of us back, please. We're worried. **

** Akira: Are you avoiding us? Is it because we're fake dating? **

** Akira: Yuuki, please. Pick up. I'm worried. **

The sight of those messages, of Akira's worry, made Mishima choke. He... He couldn't handle all of the emotions drowning him, swallowing him, suffocating him... He couldn't handle the image of Akira's body, so pale, so lifeless, so cold, that was haunting him... He couldn't handle the pain of Akira's death, of his own failures to notice what Akechi was planning, of all of his wounds... Akira was dead and he was alive and that wasn't right, Mishima was supposed to be the one who eventually killed himself, not Akira. Not the one with people who cared about him and a reason to live and people who relied on him- A message coming through distracted Mishima from his thoughts, and he was quick to open it.

** Sakamoto: Dude u were mugged? R u ok??? **

_ Me: I'm mostly okay. Bit beaten up but I'll heal. _

_ Me: How are you? I'm sure the news from earlier must be hard on you _

** Sakamoto: im handling it ok. u? **

Mishima hesitated, tempted to tell the truth and say that he'd seen Akira, but threw that idea out of the window as soon as he registered it, typing out he response and sending it.

_ Me: I'll be fine _

** Sakamoto: But ur not rn? **

_ Me: It's nothing I can't handle _

** Sakamoto: u dont need 2 tho. were all here 4 u **

Mishima paused at that, blinking in surprise. Sakamoto... was there for him? Like, he'd be supportive and help him? But... why? Mishima was just trying to play off his own pain because he knew it couldn't be as bad as how Akira's friends felt, but then Sakamoto said that... Gulping slightly, he forced his shaky fingers to sweep across his keyboard.

_ Me: Thanks. And the same goes for you. _

_ Me: I'm... not doing great. I'm also really bad at feelings so... Don't push please. _

** Sakamoto: ok dude. im still here if u need me **

Mishima smiled slightly, typing out another quick thanks before saying he had to get some sleep. Sakamoto replied with an overenthusiastic 'goodnight!!!', which made Mishima smile despite himself. He put his laptop away and grabbed his phone and charger, heading to bed after calling out goodnight to his aunt and putting his phone back on charge...


	5. Alive

Mishima missed school the next day too, but he did manage to pull himself together enough to head to LeBlanc at around five. Kawakami tried to convince him to stay, but he insisted on going, pointing out the fact that spending time with Futaba could help both of them deal with Akira's death better... 

Actually walking into the cafe was harder than Mishima had anticipated, the knowledge that Akira wasn't there, that he'd never be there, that he was dead... It slowed Mishima in his tracks as he got closer and closer to LaBlanc. But he'd promised Futaba that he'd be there, so he pushed past the pain and regret, walking in eventually. Once he was in, though, he blinked in surprise. All of Akira's closest friends were there... He was sorely tempted to turn and leave, but he'd already been spotted.

"Mishima!" Sakamoto exclaimed, rushing over with a frown, "Your texts said you'd been mugged, but I didn't know it was this bad!"

Mishima opened his mouth, ready to argue and say it wasn't that bad, but Futaba piped up before he could, her voice full of concern as she stated, "That looks really bad..."

The sentiment was echoed by the rest of Akira's friends, but Mishima just shrugged and muttered, "It could be worse..."

Niijima opened her mouth, probably to say some inspirational bullshit about how it didn't matter if it could have been worse, his pain still mattered or something, but Boss cut her off by saying he'd made drinks for everyone. Mishima waited until everyone else had grabbed theirs before tiredly making his way to the counter, carefully perching on a barstool and shrugging his jacket off (he had only had it on his good arm properly anyway) then grabbing his coffee with his good arm. He muttered a quiet thanks before sipping his drink. 

Already, he wanted to leave. Some part of him knew that,  _ technically _ , the other's might have wanted him there because he'd been Akira's friend too and they wanted to spend some time remembering him, but Mishima's paranoia and anxiety had been ramped up to eleven ever since he'd gotten to Kawakami's that night so he was uncomfortable being in a room with so many people...

"So... How're ya holding up, Mishima?" Boss asked, catching the teen in question's attention. The bluenette hesitated before shrugging, not wanting to talk about his feelings. Boss raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him, but Okumura giggling nervously shut him up. Mishima instantly focused on the pink girl, his gut twisting with disgust when he realised that she and Niijima were flirting... If it had been any other circumstance, he would have been fine with it -happy, even, because those two were so obviously in love- but when they were together to, probably, remember Akira? It was... wrong. Bad. It felt like they were disrespecting Akira's memory... But Mishima didn't say anything, just sipping from his coffee again. For a while, nothing really changed. Everyone talked to their preferred people (except Mishima, who remained silent) and drank their drinks, which didn't really sit well with Mishima. It seemed... weird that they had met up, just the day after Akira was announced to have committed suicide, but weren't even discussing him. It-

The door opening made Mishima tense, reaching for the switchblade he'd hidden away in his jean pocket, but what he saw made him become even more agitated. Niijima Sae walked in, acting like all was right in the world and  _ smiling  _ at her little sister. Mishima's blood boiled, well aware of the fact that probably no one else knew about Niijima's involvement in Akira's death... He glared at the silver-haired woman, his eyes darkening when she finally noticed him. Seeing her filled Mishima with rage, fear and sorrow, furious at her for working with Akechi, scared because he'd come to associate her with pain, and sad because the sight of her reminded him that Akira was dead, that he was-

"This... is uncomfortable," Niijima stated, and Mishima didn't say anything, preferring to just glare at her. The pair was silent as everyone else looked between them, frowning... The silence couldn't last forever, though, so Niijima started to speak, "Mishima, I-"

"I need to go," the bluenette in question cut her off, leaving his cup on the counter as he stood from his stool and grabbed his jacket. Without another word and as quickly as he could, he moved around Niijima and marched towards the door, but he froze at who he saw stood between him and it. Akira... Shutting his eyes against the sight and rubbing them with his good arm, he tried to get the illusion to disappear. When he opened his eyes and saw that it hadn't, he shook his head and continued on, acting like he'd seen nothing. The only indication he gave that he had noticed the hallucination in front of him was a quiet, angry grumble of, "Whatever fucking meds I'm on must be too strong if I'm seeing fucking ghosts..."

"I'm pretty sure I'm not a ghost," the mirage joked, but Mishima ignored it. There was no way that it was actually Akira. He was dead. Mishima had seen him... It had to be his imagination, it- The spirit reached out and stopped Mishima with a hand on his chest, voice soft as it muttered, "It's really me, Yuuki."

Mishima closed his eyes against the wave of emotions that threatened to strangle him. There was no way it was really Akira... It had to be a dream or an illusion or maybe Mishima had died himself, but it just couldn't be Akira-

"Shit, did no one tell Mishima the plan?" Sakamoto groaned, a wave of guilty noises followed by the sound of something slapping something echoing through the cafe, "No wonder he thinks Akira's a ghost! He believes the news-"

"Actually, I saw Akira with a fucking bullet hole in his forehead," Mishima cut Sakamoto off with a tried growl. There was a surge of confusion at that, but Mishima continued lowly, "I saw him fucking dead, okay? I-"

"I wasn't dead," Akira cut him off, stepping closer and gently cupping his cheek, "I... Please. Let us explain..."

Mishima hesitated. The person in front of him couldn't  _ not _ be there, since he was very much touching Mishima and very much visible to everyone else, but he also  _ couldn't  _ be there, since Mishima had seen him with a bullet in his skull... His indecision must have been evident because he didn't get the chance to say anything, rather being cut off by Akira whispering, "Please... Just hear us out..."

After just a moment's more hesitation, Mishima sighed and agreed, pulling away from Akira in favour of moving back to the stool he had been sat on. Akira followed, albeit slightly slower and with a small limp, and took the stool next to him...

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Once the explanation was over and done with and everyone had eaten dinner, Mishima's head was spinning. Cognition? Palaces? Faking Akira's death? None of it made sense, but it had to be true... The Akira that was now watching Mishima closely was very much real... But how? And why did Akechi want to kill Akira? Why was he on the same side of the bad guys? It... It was all too much for Mishima to understand all at once, but he did get one thing...

"The you I saw... He wasn't real?" Mishima checked with Akira again, frowning when Akira once again confirmed it. Without even thinking, he reached out and gently rested a hand on Akira's shoulder, blushing when Akira grabbed said hand and gripped it tightly.

"I'm really here, Yuuki. I'm safe..." the younger teen stated, and Mishima finally believed it, biting his lip and forcing back tears as he slid off his stool. He was quick to gather Akira in a tight (but not too tight), one-armed hug, burying his face in the other teen's chest. Akira was okay... He was safe. He was right there and in Mishima's arm and  _ not dead- _

"I thought you were dead, you fucking asshole," Mishima hissed, shutting his eyes and letting out a stuttering breath, "I thought that what I saw was real and-"

Akira cut Mishima off by hugging him tightly and whispering, "I'm sorry. I had no idea that you'd be there or see that... I would have told you our plan but you would have convinced me not to do it..."

Mishima didn't really think that he had that much sway over Akira's decision making, but he didn't argue, preferring to just cuddle as close to Akira as he could... Of course, he was forced to pull away eventually, and the older Niijima calling his name made him do just that. Not that he went far, making sure he stood right next to Akira even as he turned to face the woman. He didn't like her, not after what had happened to him, but at least she'd explained to the others that he'd been kidnapped and hadn't made him think back on that...

"I... I am so sorry," she stated, stepping closer until Mishima flinched away from her. She stopped, hesitant, before sighing and continuing to talk, "I never knew  _ you _ were the person they'd taken in for your connection to the Phantom Thieves, let alone that they'd hurt you as badly as they did..."

"They hurt Akira even more, but... finish your apology," Mishima muttered, making sure to stick as close to Akira as he could. The other teen wrapped an arm around his waist, and Mishima couldn't help but lean into him, needing the contact so he knew that Akira was really there, that he was alive and okay and-

"I... I believed that were the enemy when we first spoke, during your capture," Niijima started, brushing her hair behind her ear and frowning, "Then they managed to steal my heart and show me that I was wrong, that they weren't and that I'd let myself get... distorted. And I interrogated Kurusu, then there was the incident with the phone and Akechi... I realised that I had been so, so wrong. And... What you told me, during our meetings, then how you reacted to seeing Akira-"

"I'd rather not talk about that," Mishima cut her off, glaring and ignoring his feelings (as per normal). He hated that he'd told her about Kamoshida and his parents and his... his negative thoughts and that she'd seen him break down because he thought Akira was dead and that he'd told her about his feelings for Akira, and he really didn't want to talk about any of it. Niijima, thankfully, understood and dropped the topic, muttering a final apology before saying she had to leave because she had lots of paperwork to do... She said her goodbyes quickly, leaving the Phantom Thieves, Boss and Mishima be. 

Once Niijima was gone, Mishima sighed and sat on one of the stools, resting his head on his good arm with his elbow on his knee. He... He felt like a mess. The past few days had been a roller coaster and Mishima had just been along for the ride. He'd been beaten, drugged, led to believe Akira was dead... He'd found out that Akechi was working with the bad guys (he had expected as much, but ouch. Mishima was starting to not mind the guy), that Prosecutor Niijima had been distorted and gotten a Palace, that Akira was alive... So much had happened in such a short span of time and he had no idea how to process it all, how to deal with it, how to-

"Hey," Akira's soft, concerned voice distracted Mishima, "Are you okay?"

"Are you?" Mishima countered, sitting up and focusing an Akira with a frown. Carefully, absentmindedly, he reached up and traced the bruise that had blossomed on Akira's cheek, whispering, "They... They hurt you a lot..."

"I'm not the one with broken bones," Akira retorted, frowning as he gently rested a hand on Mishima's shoulder, the one attached to his damaged arm. The bluenette shrugged his other shoulder, not really caring about his own injuries when Akira was  _ right that _ and had been beaten and drugged too but was alive-

"Akira's right, Mishima," Niijima spoke up, frowning as she examined Mishima, "You were hurt a lot more than him..."

Mishima blinked in surprise at her concern but didn't let it phase him for too long, shrugging again and stating, "I've been through worse, Niijima."

That didn't seem to have the effect Mishima had wanted, as Niijima's frown deepened and she looked ready to argue about how it didn't matter if he'd been through worse or something, but she was cut off.

"Mishima, it is not necessary for you to pretend you aren't upset by what you experienced around us. We all care about you..." Okumura's voice was soft, caring, as she moved towards Mishima. The bluenette sent her an unconvinced look before sighing and responding.

"I'm fine. Really, I-"

He was cut off by his phone ringing, and he sighed deeply before answering it with a tired, "Mishima Yuuki speaking."

"How's everything going, Yuuki? Is Sakura okay?" Kawakami's voice came across the line, a purposeful combination of concerned and not pushy. Mishima calmed a little at the sound, glad his aunt cared so much...

"We're doing okay," the teen replied, earning a pleased hum from Kawakami. For a moment, the woman audibly hesitated before asking if he was okay to catch the last train back to her's, or if he needed her to come meet him at LeBlanc. After glancing at the clock and trying to remember when the last train was, Mishima replied, "I'll be fine catching it on my own, I-"

"You should stay here tonight," Akira cut Mishima off, a little louder than anticipated. The older teen blinked in surprise before opening his mouth to argue, but was once again cut off, this time by Kawakami.

"Who was that? It sounded like Akira?" she asked, very confused. Mishima tensed, sending Akira a slight glare as he tried to argue, to say that Kawakami was hearing things, but Akira stole his phone and put it on speaker before he had the chance to.

"Hello Sensei," he stated, earning a surprised gasp from Kawakami. Mishima sent him a tired glare but didn't get the chance to say anything because Akira was quick to continue, "Yes, I am alive. The suicide stunt was completely fake."

Kawakami was silent for a moment before sighing, her voice more than a little annoyed when she asked, "And you didn't think to tell Yuuki what you were planning? You were content with letting him think you were dead? With  _ hurting  _ him like that? With-"

"Aunt!" Mishima cut her off with a scowl, "If he'd told me before, I would found a way to stop him! He couldn't tell me until now!"

"Yuuki, you- I've never seen you cry like that! I-"

"Aunt! Can we not talk about this?" Mishima cut her off again, and something about his tone made Kawakami stop. She seemed to pause before sighing and muttering a quiet 'fine' and asking when Mishima would be going back to her's. The bluenette in question was thankful for her understanding and was about to answer when Akira pipped up.

"I... I was wondering if Yuuki would stay at LeBlanc the night. In a completely just sleeping way," he stated, surprisingly hesitant. Mishima blinked at him, but Kawakami replied before he could speak.

"Yuuki told me that you're not really dating, Akira," she sighed, and Mishima could picture the way she was tiredly rubbing her brow as she continued, "I know that you're not going to have sex."

There was a quiet wave of surprised noises at Kawakami's words, and Mishima was promptly reminded of the fact everyone else in the room thought they were actually together. Akira sent him a confused look, so Mishima sighed and shrugged with his good shoulder and replied, "Aunt was trying to comfort me about my 'boyfriend' dying, so I told her that we aren't actually together."

Something Mishima didn't recognise flashed behind Akira's eyes, but Kawakami spoke up before he could say anything, her voice tired as she stated, "It's up to Yuuki if he stays with you. And Akira? I'll tell your classmates that you've been missing school because of family stuff."

Akira thanked Kawakami before turning to Mishima, who was biting his lip as he considered his options. He really,  _ really _ wanted to stay, but he didn't want to intrude on Boss and he didn't have any of his meds or anything else...

"I... I'd love to stay, b... but I don't have my pain meds or anything..." Mishima eventually sighed, "They're all at Aunt's..."

Akira frowned but nodded, opening his mouth to speak, but Boss pipped up before he could, "I could drive you there and back to pick them up."

Mishima blinked in surprise before shaking his head, an excuse on his lips, but Boss cut him off too, voice a little fond as he stated, "You're not a bother, kid. You and Akira both need some support after what you've been through, and it makes sense that you stick together for that. And if driving you to your aunt's place to get whatever you need is the best way to make sure you can? I don't mind..."

Mishima didn't quite believe his words, but before he even had the chance to argue again, he found himself in Boss's car, being driven to his aunt's with Akira. It was... strangely comfortable, driving with just Boss and Akira. Although, the fact that Akira had insisted that they sat together in the back might have helped with that... It didn't take long to get to Kawakami's, even if Mishima had to give Boss directions, and soon the trio were stood in her living room.

"I put together an overnight bag for you, Yuuki," Kawakami stated as she handed said to Akira, "Do you have your keys for here on you? I couldn't find them and I'm not working tomorrow, but Tae and I have that date I told you about and-"

"I have the keys," Mishima cut her off with a small smile, which she returned. For a moment, she seemed to hesitate, but then she sighed and looked over at Akira, who stiffened under her gaze.

"We need to talk," she stated, turning and walking out of the room. Akira blinked then followed her, sending Mishima a confused look. The bluenette shrugged in reply, and soon found himself stood with just Boss. It was awkwardly silent for a moment before Mishima sighed and walked towards the kitchen, Boss following. Once there, Mishima tried to offer to make Boss a drink, but the older man started to make them before the teen had the chance to do anything. So, instead, Mishima sat down at the kitchen table and pulled out his switchblade, fiddling with it mindlessly...

"So... You and Akira aren't actually dating?" Boss asked as he put Mishima's drink on the table in front of him. The bluenette was struck by the knowledge that he wasn't good enough, that Akira had a crush on someone else, that he  _ didn't stand a chance _ , but he shoved those thoughts away as he flipped his blade shut and left it on the table.

"No. He...  _ Akechi  _ wouldn't stop flirting with me or leave me alone, and he called the morning after Akira stayed at mine when I was ill. Akira knew how uncomfortable I was, so lied to Akechi and said we were dating. I... I went along with it because it seemed like the only way to get Akechi off my back, and we've been pretending ever since..." he replied, picking up his coffee and taking a small sip. Boss made an understanding noise and they fell silent for a few minutes, drinking their respective drinks... At least, until Boss sighed and spoke up.

"Do you plan on telling him how you feel?" he asked, and Mishima just shook his head silently. There was no point. Akira had feelings for someone else, telling him would just be a waste of breath... Besides, Akira had enough on his plate. He didn't need Mishima's unrequited feelings on his mind when he had to focus on Shido...

"So you agreed to feign a relationship with him, despite your feelings?" Boss questioned, eyes and tone indecipherable. Mishima hesitated before taking another sip of his coffee and sighing.

"I know it sounds selfish and manipulative, but... it was the only way I'll know what dating him would actually be like... And it did get Akechi off of me, which was the plan's main purpose," he replied, eyes downcast. Boss hummed slightly, but didn't seem angry or judgemental, so Mishima took that as a win. They turned back to silence again, but this time it was shattered by Kawakami walking in with a surprisingly flustered Akira... Mishima had no idea what his aunt had said to make Akira blush like that, but it was a good look. A really good look...

"Text me when you get to LeBlanc," Kawakami ordered Mishima, leaning over and hugging him carefully. The teen agreed, and once more soon found himself sat in Boss's car. This time, though, he focused on Akira and spoke up.

"I'm really sorry if Aunt said anything embarrassing," he muttered, shrugging slightly, "She... She has a bad habit of being over-protective..."

Akira visibly hesitated before smiling slightly, reaching out and grasping Mishima's good hand gently. The bluenette looked down, blinking in surprise as Akira intertwined their fingers, but brushed the action aside. There was no way Akira meant for it to mean anything. He probably only did it because he needed the physical comfort... Akira speaking up distracted Mishima, the younger teen's voice calm and soft as he whispered, "It's okay. She mostly wanted to tell me that she was angry that I'd let you think I was dead... She mentioned that you were really upset by it?"

Mishima's cheeks heated up a little, but he played it off by scoffing out, "Akira, you're my friend. One of my only two friends, to be specific. Of course I'd be upset by you  _ dying." _

Akira blinked at that before rolling his eyes, the sight only visible because they were driving past a brightly lit building, as he stated, "Everyone else wants to be your friend. They keep asking me to get you to tag along when we hang out..."

Mishima blinked disbelievingly at that, but Boss parking the car distracted him. After a moment of awkward shuffling, everyone was out of the car and on their way into LeBlanc (and, unfortunately, Mishima and Akira had had to let go of each other's hands...). Inside, they were greeted by the sight of Sakakmoto and Kitagawa talking quietly to each other in one of the booths as Futaba dozed in another one, with no one else there. When he noticed them, Kitagawa stood and walked over, voice quiet as he whispered, "Everyone else had to leave, but Futaba wanted to stay until you got back. However, Ryuji and I did not feel comfortable leaving her alone so late at night, so we stayed."

Sakamoto nodded in agreement, visibly fighting against the urge to talk loudly. Boss frowned, glancing at the clock before sighing and muttering, "I'll get her home. There are probably no more trains running, so you two will have to stay the night."

Sakamoto obviously stiffened at the suggestion, but Kitagawa didn't seem at all phased as he agreed. Boss nodded and walked over to Futaba, carefully picking her up. She made a small noise of complaint, but didn't really do anything else, so Boss called out a quiet 'goodnight' and left. Once he was gone, Sakamoto sighed, stretching and making some sort of comment about how he hated staying quiet.

"That's because you find it so difficult," Kitagawa teased, smirking a little when Sakamoto squawked indignantly. Mishima couldn't fight the usual wave of inadequacy that washed over him, but he didn't need to since Akira distracted him by placing a soothing hand on his shoulder. Looking up at the taller teen gave Mishima no clue as to what Akira wanted, but he was gifted with a soft, stunning smile...

"Anyway," Kitagawa speaking stole Mishima's attention, "what are the sleeping arrangements?"

"I only have my couch, one futon and my bed," Akira replied, shrugging before seeming to think, "Two of us will have to share..."

Mishima felt a smirk try to tug at his lips, his mind supplying that this was the perfect opportunity to push Sakamoto and Kitagawa to confess their feelings, but he was cut off before he could suggest anything.

"I'll take the futon, Yusuke can have the couch, then you two can share the bed!" Sakamoto beamed, and Mishima blushed brightly. He opened his mouth to argue, but didn't get the chance.

"That would be almost ideal..." Kitagawa hummed, tapping his chin, "Except for the fact that I am too tall for the couch..."

"Well, so am I," Sakamoto countered, slightly flustered as his eyes drifted a little too low to be looking directly in Kitagawa's... Mishima almost laughed at how obvious he was, but forced that down as he spoke up.

"Uh... I could take the couch? Since I'm the shortest..." he suggested, but Akira, Sakamoto and Kitagawa all shook their heads.

"Nah, man," Sakamoto shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck, "You're pretty beat up! You should at least take the futon or the bed..."

Mishima tried to argue, to say that he was fine, but Akira speaking up stopped him, the younger teen stating, "Yuuki and I will share my bed, you two will share the futon."

Sakamoto visibly flushed at that, stuttering out some sort of excuse about why that wouldn't work, and Kitagawa coloured a little too, but Mishima was too busy blushing brightly to pay attention to them. He couldn't  _ share a bed _ with Akira! He... Nope! That was impossible! He... He had to come up with a believable excuse at why he couldn't share with anyone. Yeah, he had to do that... After a moment of thinking, Mishima stuttered out, "I... Uh... I have nightmares and move around a lot, s... so I'm probably not the best person to share a bed with."

Akira shrugged nonchalantly. Mishima tried to argue again, but no matter what he, Sakamoto and Kitagawa said, they could not change Akira's mind. Instead, they all eventually found themselves agreeing to the sleeping arrangments...


	6. Sleep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a scene with a nightmare that mentions suicide and some pretty negative thinking on Mishima's part throughout.

Getting dressed to sleep was... an ordeal. Akira leant Sakamoto and Kitagawa a set of clothes each whilst he and Mishima had their own pyjamas, which was fine. But actually changing was... less than easy. Akira had suggested they all changed in the same room -he'd said something about how he, Sakamoto and Mishima had changed in the same room before, due to PE- and they'd all gone along with it because they were too tired to argue. And getting changed in the same room as the other three wasn't really the difficult part for Mishima - he'd been getting changed in the same room as boys literally his entire school career, he was used to it - and he was able to keep his eyes off of Akira well enough. At least, until he started to struggle because of his arm... As much as he was used to doing stuff one-handed (he'd broken or fractured his arm or hand too many times to count, really), getting dressed had always been on the tougher side... So he wasn't finding it that easy. But he was handling it. He'd managed to shimmy out of his jeans and into his pyjama bottoms and was slowly but surely working on getting out of his top when Akira walked over to him. Shirtless.

"Hey," Akira greeted with a frown, oblivious as to how his state of undress was affecting Mishima, "Is your arm being a hassle?"

"I... I can handle it," Mishima replied, trying (and failing) to keep his eyes from trailing all over Akira's surprisingly defined torso, from his sharp collar bone to the delicious v of his hips... Akira didn't pick up on it, thankfully, but he did step closer to Mishima and nearly give the older teen a heart attack.

"I can help you," he muttered, frown still in place as he gently laid a hand Mishima's shoulder. The bluenette tried to argue, to say he could do it himself, but Akira cut him off with a firm, "Let me help you."

Mishima blinked in surprise before trying to argue, but Akira sliding his hand down from his shoulder to the hem of his t-shirt stopped him. The taller teen still hadn't noticed how he was affecting Mishima... Gulping slightly and taking a deep breath, Mishima nodded, lifting his arms as best he could. Akira was careful as he helped Mishima out of his top, taking care not to hurt his broken arm or press on any of his bruises, before leaving the top on the couch (which Mishima had been changing next to) and picking up his pyjama top. Neither spoke as Akira helped Mishima put it on and Akira didn't move once he was done. Rather, he lingered with his hands still lightly gripping the hem of Mishima's top, both of them gazing right into each other's eyes... At least, until a loud laugh made them jump apart like they'd be burnt, both blushing brightly as they looked towards the source of the sound. It was just Sakamoto, seemingly finding something on Kitagawa's phone amusing... Mishima glanced at Akira before clearing his throat.

"I... Uh... thanks, Akira," he stuttered out, smiling a little as he shifted through his bag. Once he found what he wanted, he continued, "I... I'm going to go take my meds. Back in a min."

With that, he walked down the stairs as quickly as he could without it being suspicious. As soon as he was alone, the bluenette let out a quiet groan. What the hell had just happened? It... It was almost like they were going to kiss... But that was impossible! Akira had a crush on someone else! ...Or did he? He was more tactile with Mishima than he was with anyone else, and his eyes did seem to linger on occasion, and he did seem to get flustered when anyone suggested that he and Mishima were close... No. It wasn't possible. There was no way...

Mishima pushed those thoughts away in favour of getting himself some water and taking his meds. As he was doing so, however, someone walked down the stairs... Thankfully, it was Kitagawa, who nodded at him before helping himself to a glass of water too. They were both silent, drinking their respective waters, until Kitagawa sighed deeply.

"I am not very good when it comes to affairs of the heart, but... even I can see that you have genuine feelings for Akira, Mishima," the taller teen stated, and Mishima blinked before blushing and trying to argue. That didn't work, though, as Kitagawa cut him off with a firm, "You hold a love for him so pure and bright that it is nothing short of art. You two would make a wonderful couple."

Mishima couldn't help but scoff at that, hesitating before explaining his reaction when Kitagawa looked confused, "That... It would never actually happen. Akira... He deserves better. He could  _ do _ better. He... He's just Akira, y'know? He's... He's special, and kind, and amazing, and so out of my league..."

"On the contrary, I believe he probably thinks the same of you," Kitagawa commented, shrugging when Mishima sent him a doubtful look, "You cannot see it because your perception of yourself has warped the truth and, as a result, stops you from seeing what is right in front of you. Akira does not discuss his feelings with any of us, yet I know he allows himself to be vulnerable around you. The question is why. And the answer is simple - he cares for you in an intricate, delicate, different way when compared to how he does everyone else in his life. You are special to him, more than you know..."

Despite the part of him that was screaming that Kitagawa was wrong, that it was impossible, that he  _ wasn't worthy _ , a bigger, louder part of Mishima could understand where the other teen was coming from. Akira did seem to be more vulnerable around him -the call they'd shared, about Akira's parents, crept to the forefront of Mishima's mind- and he was at least a lot more physical with him... But that didn't mean Akira had feelings for him! It could be anything, and that was the least likely option! There was no way-

"I do not know what the best course of action would be for you, Mishima, but I suggest you watch his behaviour. Maybe that will give you an idea of his true feelings," Kitagawa stated, smiling slightly as he washed, dried and put his cup away. Mishima hummed thoughtfully before focusing so he could reply.

"Thank you, Kitagawa," he muttered, smiling a little, "And maybe take your own advice, in regards to Sakamoto."

Kitagawa blushed slightly and shook his head, smile widening as he said, "Please, it's just Yusuke."

Mishima raised an eyebrow at him as his own smile grew, calling out, "You can call me Yuuki!" before Kita- Yusuke walked up the stairs. As soon as the younger teen was out of sight, Mishima found himself frowning as he considered Yusuke's words. It seemed... impossible that Akira would like him -the taller teen already had a crush on someone, but it couldn't be him...- but there was a surprising amount of evidence that suggested he did. And if he did... That would have been a dream come true! But if he didn't... Mishima couldn't ruin his friendship with Akira over a potential, improbable scenario. He couldn't, he-

"Yuuki?" Akira's voice came from the top of the stairs, "You okay?"

Forcing himself together, Mishima called up quickly, "Yeah! I'll be up in a minute!"

Akira said to take his time, so Mishima headed to the bathroom, doing his usual routine (Kawakami had put his med container in a small bag with his toothpaste and toothbrush) before heading back upstairs. Once up there, his eyes widened at the sight in front of him. Akira was laid on his bed, his cat curled up on his chest as they both watched Sakamoto and Yusuke squabble over who slept where. Just as Sakamoto playfully elbowed Yusuke in the stomach, Mishima found himself chuckling slightly. The sound caught Akira's attention, earning Mishima a small but sweet smile. The bluenette smiled back, deciding to take Yusuke's advice as he tried to compare the smile Akira gave him to the ones he had for others... Of course, the sound of his chuckle had also caught Yusuke and Sakamoto's attention, so Mishima was soon distracted.

"Mishima! Tell Yusuke that we need to  _ share  _ the blanket!" Sakamoto moaned, pouting. Mishima struggled to fight the laugh that climbed up his throat, a task that became harder when Yusuke scowled and spoke up.

"I am aware of that fact! It is not my fault that it is too small!" the tall teen grumbled, pulling at the blanket. Rolling his eyes, Mishima replied quickly.

"You could cuddle," he suggested, only realising a second later that he and Akira had said the same thing at the same time. The pair shared a look for a moment, surprised, before Mishima started to giggle. Akira soon followed, and eventually Sakamoto and Yusuke started to laugh too...

After a while, all the teens managed to get at least somewhat comfortable in their sleeping arrangements. Well... Mishima wasn't completely comfortable, for one. Akira's bed was so small that they couldn't both sleep on their backs, so they were on their sides with backs to each other. Which was fine. Except for the fact that Mishima was completely aware of every inch of Akira's skin and the very limited space between them... And Yusuke had just sent him a small, supportive smile, probably to suggest that he made a move... It was silent for a few more minutes before an annoyed groan echoed through the room.

"Ugh! Why is sleeping in a new place so hard?" Sakamoto complained, and Mishima hummed in quiet agreement. It was always pretty difficult...

"It would be easier if you did not talk, Ryuji," Yusuke commented, earning an annoyed huff from the blonde. Mishima, however, smirked a little at him, which made Yusuke blush...

"We should play would you rather until we're all sleepy!" Sakamoto suggested, and Mishima and Yusuke shared a wide-eyed, concerned look. Neither of them wanted that! It could potentially lead to their crushes being revealed! That-

"Good idea," Akira replied, and Mishima felt the bed shift slightly before there was the brush of breathing across his neck... He sent Yusuke a panicked look, but the other bluenette just shrugged slightly. Before either of them could argue against Sakamoto's suggestion, Akira asked quietly, "Ryuji, would you rather kiss Yusuke or Yuuki?"

Ryuji sat up so he had a proper view of Akira, blushing slightly as he glared at little before responding with a purposefully normal, "Probably Yusuke. No offence, Mishima!"

"None taken," the bluenette muttered, sending Sakamoto a small smile before raising a subtle eyebrow at Yusuke, which made the younger teen blush brightly. Sakamoto didn't seem to pick up on that, though, so he spoke again.

"Mishima! Would you rather... kiss Akechi or punch him?" the blonde questioned, and Mishima smirked a little before sitting up with a stretch. He leaned against the wall behind him, shrugging a little.

"Considering I've done one of them already? And would happily do it again? I'd have to go for that one..." he replied, still smirking. Sakamoto visibly gaped at him as Yusuke raised an eyebrow, but it was Akira's reaction that caught Mishima's attention the most. The taller teen had tensed enough that it made his mattress shift, and he seemed to be on edge... Mishima tried to ask if he was okay but was cut off.

"You've kissed Akechi?" Sakamoto screeched, the sound making Yusuke flinch. Mishima blinked at that before laughing slightly and shaking his head.

"God no!" he snorted a little, rolling his eyes, "I punched him. Twice."

There was a moment of shocked silence, but Akira cracked first, sighing and muttering a quiet, "Did he deserve it?"

That made Mishima sober up, his mind flashing back to what had happened before he'd punched Akechi, the sight of lifeless eyes, pale skin and blood... He pushed the memory away as he whispered, "Well, it was just after I saw... you. I blamed him for it and was... more than a little angry..."

No one knew what to say to that... So Akira didn't say anything, just wrapped an arm around Mishima's waist and rested his head on the bluenette's chest. The sudden change in position made Mishima tense for a split second, but he relaxed quickly, curling an arm around Akira's shoulders as he sent Yusuke a flustered look. The taller teen smirked at him, even as Sakamoto watched them, confused... Mishima pushed through the emotions that threatened to swallow him whole, clearing his throat before asking, "Yusuke, would you rather... kiss Takamaki or Sakamoto?"

The other teen blushed brightly at the question, sending Mishima a flustered glare before clearing his own throat and replying coolly, "I... suppose that I'd kiss Ryuji."

Sakamoto's eyes widened at that, his mouth falling open a little as his cheeks darkened, and Mishima sent the flustered boys a smirk before being quickly distracted by Akira tightening his grip on his waist. The younger teen seemed almost... possessive, and it made Mishima's heart skip a beat. But neither of them said anything, Yusuke speaking up distracting them as the tall teen asked, "Akira, would you rather kiss Yuuki or Ryuji?"

Akira seemed to hesitate, which made Mishima's heart squeeze. Of course, he'd probably say Sakamoto, there was no way Yusuke had been right, Mishima didn't stand a chance-

"Yuuki," Akira replied, and Mishima blinked down at him. The younger teen seemed to be blushing brightly... Mishima felt his own cheeks flush, the idea of what it might be like to actually kiss Akira floating unbidden into his mind, but Akira continuing distracted him, "Since when were you two on a first-name basis?"

Mishima and Yusuke shared a look, but the taller of the two was the one to respond, stating, "We had a discussion about the beauty of love and art."

Mishima huffed out a small laugh at that, nodding, before a yawn overtook him. Surprisingly, that made Akira sigh and tug him til he was flat on his back, staying on his chest as he muttered, "We should all try to get some sleep..."

Sakamoto grumbled, but Yusuke sighing and turning so they were face to face and pulling him from his seated position so they could cuddle shut him up. Mishima couldn't see either of their faces anymore, but he was a little too distracted by the way Akira threw a leg over his to care... Sleeping like this, curled up with Akira's head on his chest and arm around him, was... different, but a good different. One Mishima wanted to repeat. Like, a lot... He shoved those thoughts away in favour of closing his eyes, basking in the knowledge that Akira was there, he was safe, he was  _ alive. _ He was right there, breathing and curled up against Mishima... He was okay...

With that, the exhaustion that had been pulling at Mishima ever since he was kidnapped tugged him to sleep...

-=-=-=-=-=-=

** It's cold. So cold... And lonely. Where is he? Why is it so dark? What- **

** "Yuuki~" his mother's voice sang from the shadows, "Why did you let him do it? Why did you let him kill me?" **

** Mishima's breath caught, his mother's corpse flying into view and floating in front of him as she whispered, "Why, Yuuki? It's all your fault. All your fault. All-" **

** Mishima turned and ran, ignoring how his mother's voice followed him and how he was trapped in a seemingly inescapable darkness... He ran and ran and ran, but it was so dark and he couldn't see and- A hand gripped his arm, pulling him to a stop. What he saw, though, made Mishima relax. Akira... **

** "Yuuki..." Akira's voice sounded wrong, garbled, dark, angry in a way Mishima had never heard as his grip tightened, "How could you be so stupid? I'll never love you! You're disgusting! A waste of space! You're not good enough! I hate you!" **

** Mishima tried to open his mouth, tried to argue, to say that he didn't want Akira to leave, but the other teen changed in front of his very eyes, pulling out a gun. Mishima tried to take it from him, tried to stop what he instinctively knew was going to happen, but he couldn't. Akira smirked cruelly, raising the gun to his head with one last whisper of hatred, pulling the trigger with a deafening  _ bang- _ **

Mishima gasped awake, sitting upright and accidentally dislodging Akira. The taller teen snorted awake, but Mishima was too busy trying to calm his racing heart to pay attention. It had just been a dream. Akira was right there and he didn't hate him and he was  _ alive and safe and okay- _

"Yuuki?" Akira whispered, sitting up too, "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Mishima forced himself to take in his surroundings, to remember where he was, to breath deeply, before he was able to respond with a raspy, "S... Sorry. Ju... Just a nightmare..."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Akira asked softly, visibly frowning. Mishima shook his head violently, so Akira paused before quietly questioning, "Do you need a hug?"

Mishima didn't even bother to reply, turning and tucking himself into Akira's chest without a word, his arm curling around the other teen's waist and his head under his chin. Akira seemed surprised for a split second, but pulled himself together and hugged Mishima back, whispering soothing words of encouragement as the bluenette began to cry it out quietly. He... Fuck, it had hurt when he thought Akira was dead. More than he cared to admit... But it had, and now that Akira was alive Mishima was still struggling, which made no sense because Akira was  _ right there and- _

"It's okay, Yuuki. I've got you. You're safe. I'm safe... I'm here, okay? We're safe..." Akira murmured, rubbing Mishima's back in soothing circles. The bluenette was able to calm after a long while, practically collapsing into Akira's chest when he was done crying... Akira pulled away just enough for them to see eye-to-eye as he whispered, "Feeling better?"

Mishima shrugged, ducking his head back into Akira's chest and pressing his ear just above where his heart was pumping, proof that he was alive and okay and  _ there. _ Akira hummed understandingly, tilting to the side and bringing Mishima with him. The older teen went easily, too drained to bother fighting as he let Akira pull him even closer... The pair stayed like that, curled up and intertwined, even as they both drifted back to sleep...

-=-=-=-=

The next time Mishima woke up, it was to the first signs of the sun rising. Unsurprisingly, he was awake before any of the other boys but, surprisingly, he didn't make to get up. He and Akira had moved at some point in the night, Mishima ending up on his back with Akira laid completely on him, curled up with his head on Mishima's chest and their legs intertwined... The warmth of Akira on his chest, his scent, his steady breathing... Mishima wouldn't have traded it for the world. He wanted to keep the moment, to bottle it up and protect it, to feel this safe forever- Of course, he couldn't, and Sakamoto groaning as he woke up broke the early morning peace. The sound woke Yusuke, and the two startled at their position, scrambling away from each other loudly. The racket woke Akira, who groaned lowly before nuzzling into Mishima's chest. The bluenette in question blushed brightly, having expected Akira to pull away as soon as he was awake. Although, judging by the way Akira was unconsciously rubbing his... morning wood against Mishima's leg, he certainly wasn't completely aware of his surroundings... Mishima cleared his throat before stuttering out a strained, "G... Good morning, guys..."

That seemed to wake Akira up properly, the taller teen freezing before rolling away from Mishima with a blush as he muttered out an embarrassed, "I... I'm s... sorry, I... Um... I-"

"Akira," Mishima found himself speaking softly, reassuringly, as he sat up and smiled at his friend, "It's okay. It happens. I know it was unintentional and that it doesn't mean anything..."

For half a second, something akin to annoyance flashed behind Akira's eyes, but the teen just nodded slightly and suggested that they all get up for breakfast. Mishima sent him a teasing look, raising an eyebrow as he murmured about how Akira was already 'up' without a second thought. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, though, Mishima regretted them. He'd crossed a line and Akira would be weirded out or angry or-

"It's too fucking early for you to be so damn cute," Akira grumbled, turning and shoving his face into his pillow. Mishima froze, blinking and blushing, but Sakamoto distracted him quickly.

"Damn, Akira! That's gay!" he teased, smirking. Akira groaned, pulling an arm out from under his blanket to flip Sakamoto off. Mishima couldn't fight the small chuckle that escaped him before he suggested they all got up. Akira groaned again, muttering into his pillow about how he hadn't slept great, and Mishima was hit by a wave of guilt. It was his fault, wasn't it? Akira probably felt uncomfortable sharing his bed and Mishima's nightmare had woken him up and he-

Akira flicking Mishima's thigh caught the bluenette's attention, and he looked down at the taller teen. Akira was already focused on him, pouting a little, and he spoke when Mishima's eyes were on him, "Not you're fault. I just struggle to sleep normally..."

Mishima frowned at him, ready to ask if he was okay, but was cut off by Boss calling up the stairs, his voice a little quieter than normal as he stated, "If any of you are up, come down and get breakfast!"

Sakamoto groaned before getting up and padding down the stairs, Yusuke following him quickly (but only after throwing a wink Mishima's way), leaving the two boys on the bed. Mishima hesitated, biting his lip as his mind helpfully supplied that he could offer to help Akira, before sighing and getting out of bed, stretching as he stated, "It may be a good idea to sort out your... uh... situation before y... you come down..."

Akira glared at him, but there was no real heat behind it, so Mishima sent him a quick smile before heading down the stairs. Once there, he caught sight of Sakamoto and Yusuke pressed together in one of the booths before Boss talking distracted him.

"How you doing, kids?" he asked, making what smelt like heaven in a cup. Mishima muttered a quiet 'okay' as Sakamoto and Yusuke offered the same sentiment, making his way to their shared booth and sliding in awkwardly. As soon as he was comfortable, Sakamoto frowned and asked where Akira was. Mishima felt his cheeks heat up without his consent but he ignored that as he replied.

"He... He said he had something to sort out before he could come down," he stuttered, shrugging, and Sakamoto raised an eyebrow with a smirk.

"Well then..." his voice was nothing short of teasing as he watched Mishima blush slightly brighter, "And you didn't offer to help him?"

Mishima squawked at that, completely red as he tried to get Sakamoto to shut up, "I... It... It's not like that! He... It's a completely natural thing that had nothing to do with me!"

"I do not understand what you are discussing, but I believe we already discussed your and Akira's obvious feelings for each other," Yusuke pipped up, prompting Mishima to send him a flustered glare. The younger bluenette didn't seem at all phased, so Mishima sighed and put his good arm on the table, letting his head onto it.

"It's too fucking early for this," he grumbled, but Sakamoto spoke up before he had the chance to say anything else.

"Wait, did you two... bond over Akira?" Sakamoto asked, his tone a little off. Mishima sighed, sitting upright and opening his mouth to respond, only to be cut off.

"Yes," Yusuke stated, seemingly oblivious as to how hurt flashed behind Sakamoto's eyes, "Is that an issue?"

"Nah, just didn't know he was your type," Sakamoto very obviously lied, shrugging nonchalantly. Yusuke frowned, opening his mouth to ask what Sakamoto meant, so Mishima sighed and spoke up.

"Yusuke, Sakamoto thinks you have a crush on Akira," he stated, shrugging when Yusuke blinked in surprise. The tall teen then shook his head, scoffing.

"That is absurd," he sighed, cheeks darkening a little when Sakamoto looked him directly in the eye, "Akira is not my 'type', as you put it."

Sakamoto didn't quite look convinced, so he tilted his head to the side and asked, "Yeah? Then what is?"

Yusuke froze like a dear in headlights before clearing his throat and rubbing his wrist shyly as he responded, "Well, blondes, for one. And people who are more often... brash catch my attention more than someone as quiet as Akira does..." 

Sakamoto blinked at that, eyebrow raising, but Akira appearing at the bottom of the stairs meant he didn't get the chance to say anything. The bespectacled teen walked over, sliding into the booth next to Mishima and smiling slightly at the bluenette. Mishima returned the smile absentmindedly, a little distracted by the slight flush to Akira's cheeks and how his hair was even more unruly than normal... Thankfully, Boss walked over and handed out breakfast to everyone before Mishima could make a fool of himself, although one glance at Yusuke's smirk told him he hadn't been at all subtle. Of course, Sakamoto speaking up distracted both blue boys.

"Do you guys have any plans today?" he asked around a mouthful of curry. Mishima's nose scrunched up in disgust at the sight, so Sakamoto swallowed before apologising. Silently, Mishima nodded his thanks before finishing his own mouthful of food.

"Other than seeing my aunt later and being forced to listen to her ramble about her girlfriend? Not really..." he replied, shrugging. Sakamoto nodded in understanding before focusing on Yusuke. The tall bluenette seemed to think about it before sighing.

"I have to meet with a man interested in my art," he stated. Sakamoto raised an eyebrow at that before congratulating Yusuke. The bluenette blushed slightly and waved it off, muttering a quiet, "It won't necessarily lead anywhere..."

"It's still awesome that he's even considering you!" Sakamoto argued, ignorant to the redness of Yusuke's cheeks as he turned his attention to Akira, "You got any plans?"

"I was thinking I'd see if I could steal Yuuki for the day..." Akira replied, focusing on the bluenette in question. Mishima blinked and raised an eyebrow questioningly, so Akira shrugged and continued, "I'm pretty sure we both need some time to just chill after what happened..."

Mishima hesitated, unsure as to if he should agree... As tempting as the idea of spending time with Akira was, a small part of Mishima screamed that he would just be annoying, that he'd mess up and Akira would hate him, that he just  _ wasn't worth the effort- _

"That's a good idea," Boss stated, smiling a little, "You two can hang out for a while, then Futaba'll probably wanna stop by for a bit, so you three can decompress..."

That final bit of input pushed Mishima to making a decision, and he found himself smiling as he stated, "Sure! Seems like fun!"


	7. Hanging out

After breakfast (and after Mishima had taken his meds), the quartet of boys got dressed. Of course, Mishima's arm was once again an issue, and Akira once again offered to help. This time Mishima didn't put up as much of a fight, although he still only let Akira help with his top (letting Akira help with his trousers felt... like too much. Just too much). That was still... an experience, since Akira had accidentally gotten Mishima tangled up in his top and had had to actually  _ touch  _ him to get him out of it... It didn't take too long, thankfully, and soon Mishima found himself sat with just Akira in the latter's bedroom, perched on Akira's couch as the other lounged on his bed...

"Is there anything you want to do?" Akira asked, and Mishima shrugged. He truly didn't know what to do, unsure how to act now that he was trying to take Yusuke's advice about seeing if Akira could actually have feelings for him... Akira hummed at his lack of response, seemingly thinking before perking up, "I picked up a nature documentary from that place that rents out films in Shibuya, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Do you want to watch it?"

Mishima raised an eyebrow, not expecting Akira to like that kinda thing, before nodding in agreement. Surprisingly, that made Akira beam as he got to his feet and walked over to his box of stuff, riffling through it for a moment before finding the documentary and moving to Mishima's side. He showed the smaller teen the case, and Mishima had to say that it did seem pretty interesting... He told Akira as much, which made the taller teen's smile grow that much bigger as he asked, "Do you want to get snacks? We could have a movie day and just chill..."

For a split second, Mishima was reminded of the day his parent's died, of the movies and what had happened before the call, but he forced that away as he hesitantly replied, "Sure... Do you want me to grab something from the store?"

Akira shook his head, smiling a little as he stated, "We can both go. I'm safe to go about, as long as Akechi doesn't see me..."

Mishima didn't quite feel comfortable with that, pretty sure that Akechi would find out if Akira so much as stepped foot outside of the cafe, but Akira sending him a slightly pleading look made him cave, agreeing and standing to gather his coat, wallet and shoes. Soon enough, the pair were inside the local store, discussing what they were going to buy.

"Akira, you're going to have a heart attack if you try to drink that much caffeine," Mishima commented fondly, taking the pack of energy drinks Akira had picked up from him and putting them back. That made Akira pout, however, and Mishima was really weak to his adorable expression... With a sigh, the bluenette picked up a different pack of energy drinks, muttering, "Glucose energy drinks are good too, and you're not gonna overdo your caffeine intake if you have them..."

Akira paused, his pout morphing into something else, something touched... He smiled slightly, taking the drinks and putting them in the basket he was carrying as he muttered a quiet, "Thanks..."

For some reason, it felt like there was more meaning to that simple word than Mishima knew, but he didn't get the chance to ask, since Akira was reaching out and gently gripping his hand to lead him down a different aisle. Mishima's brain completely shut down at the action, just silently screaming at him as Akira intertwined their fingers.

_ What the fuck? Wh... What? Why? Huh??? Why would Akira- But- It made no sense- What- _

"I... Is this okay?" Akira asked quietly, his voice shaking a little, and Mishima forced his thoughts away as he gently squeezed Akira's hand, nodding. That made the taller teen relax as he pulled Mishima towards the snacks, which pleased the bluenette. He didn't quite understand what Akira was doing, but he'd do anything to keep him from feeling uncomfortable, so he ignored his panicked thoughts and focused on the moment...They had to let go of each other so they could grab their snacks but the warmth of Akira's touch clung to Mishima's skin as looked at a bag of dark chocolate buttons, turning to Akira to ask if he wanted them. He stopped, though, when he saw Akira. He was crouched down to look at some crisps on the bottom shelf, and dammit Mishima was a simple gay teen with hormones, what the fuck, that ass oh no-

"Which crisps do you want?" Akira asked, looking up at Mishima from behind his lashes and nope, that was too attractive for Mishima to handle so early in the morning, nu-uh. Nope- He- He shoved those feelings down as he crouched next to Akira, examining the crisp selection.

"Uh... I don't mind. Anything except ponzu or ume?" he suggested, looking at Akira, his breath catching when he noticed that the other teen's eyes were on him... Akira seemed to force himself out of his thoughts as he hummed and picked up a large share bag of norishio flavoured crisps, showing them to Mishima. The bluenette nodded in agreement, standing up carefully. For half a second, he hesitated as Akira put the crisps in the basket, but he managed to pull himself together enough to offer Akira a hand up. The taller teen blinked at the proffered hand, pausing long enough for Mishima to regret it and get ready to brush it off and ignore it, before smiling slightly, laying a hand in it. It was Mishima's turn to blink, but he recovered quickly and carefully helped Akira to his feet. Although, not carefully enough, it seemed, because the bespectacled teen listed forward, using his free hand to balance himself against Mishima's chest. Neither teen spoke for a long moment, just gazing into each other's eyes, but Mishima forced himself to pull away before he did something stupid (like kiss Akira...). Once they were parted, Akira picked up the basket and asked if there was anything in particular Mishima wanted, acting like that moment had never happened...

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

A while later, the boys found themselves settled on Akira's couch, a few of their snacks between them as Akira pressed play on the documentary. The case claimed it was voiced by some famous English nature specialist, but that didn't really matter to Mishima, who was relying on the subtitles to follow along... Although, the man did have a very soothing voice, so that was kinda cool. Not as cool as the actual documentary, which was focused on the ocean. It was really interesting, learning about the different kinds of sharks or how coral bleaching happened or the effect oil spills had on different sea creatures...

One particularly tense scene came up, a baby shark caught in a fishing net and only being freed because the fisherman cut the net to free them... Mishima looked over at Akira, planning on making some comment about how Akira had escaped death just like the shark, but froze when he noticed that Akira was already looking at him, something he couldn't recognise in his eyes. They both remained silent, watching each other and not the documentary as Mishima became very aware of the space between them... Akira licked his lips and Mishima couldn't help but trace the movement with his eyes, although he flicked his focus back up to Akira's eyes as soon as he realised what he was doing. The taller teen didn't seem to have noticed, miraculously, as he quietly asked, "Is everything okay, Yuuki?"

Something about Akira's voice was lower than normal, and Mishima wanted to say there was more hidden behind his words than just that question, but he didn't know what, so he shrugged and commented softly, "I was just going to say that you're like that shark. Having escaped death and all..."

Akira raised an eyebrow before chuckling quietly as he turned back to the screen. Mishima shoved his thoughts away as he focused on the documentary, ignoring how his heart was racing...

/././././././././././././././.

After the documentary, Akira decided to put on an old horror movie he'd rented out too. Since the documentary had been so long, the teens had eaten as many of their snacks as they could handle at that point, so they moved the wrappers and remaining food into a bag, cleaning up the couch. Without the barrier of food between them, Mishima was even more aware of everything he did, of everything  _ Akira _ did, and he didn't know how to react. With Yusuke's advice hovering over him, the... tension that had been lingering between him and Akira and his own feelings, Mishima was... conflicted. Even his insecurities couldn't really argue against all of the evidence that Akira liked him - I mean, Akira had willingly held his hand! That seems pretty concrete - but he just... didn't know what to do. There was every chance he was overthinking it, that Yusuke was wrong, that he  _ wasn't good enough- _

Akira jumping distracted Mishima, and he focused on the movie to see what had happened. Ah. The opening kill... Akira mustn't have been expecting it and gotten startled... Mishima forced himself to ignore his racing thoughts, watching the movie as it introduced the main characters...

At some point, around halfway through, Akira moved closer to Mishima, claiming that he wanted to hide if there were any jumpscares. The excuse seemed a bit... feeble, but it meant that Akira was close, so Mishima didn't complain. He couldn't actually, not when he was too distracted by how Akira had interlaced their fingers and was curled around his right arm, hugging it like it was his lifeline whilst his head rested against Mishima's shoulder... It was... well, it reminded Mishima of when he'd found out his parents had died, but it was so much more intimate than before. Here, now, alone... It was just the two of them, both changed by recent events but still just them... Being so close to Akira, being able to lean his head against the taller teen's, having this moment... Mishima could barely believe it was real, but he knew it was. The slight ache of his body told him that it wasn't a dream, that Akira was really here, that-

There was a creak on the stairs, and Mishima tensed. Instinctively, he let go of Akira's hand and reach for his switchblade, eyes on the stairs as he took the weapon out. Akira made a vaguely confused noise, so Mishima shushed him, waiting for whoever was coming up the stairs to appear... The sight of Futaba calmed Mishima, so he sighed and put his blade away, raising an eyebrow at the smirking ginger.

"Are you two... having a moment?" she asked, eyeing how Mishima and Akira were cuddled up. The former blushed brightly, glaring at his friend, but Akira spoke before he could.

"Yes," he stated, oblivious as to how that made Mishima blush brighter, "What do you want?"

Futaba laughed a little, walking forward and flopping on the couch next to Akira, shoving him and Mishima closer together as she teased, "Sojiro said that you would be here, suggested that I make sure you are both okay. Though, I doubt he knew I'd be third-wheeling your date..."

Mishima squawked at that, stuttering out that it wasn't a date as Akira did the same thing. Futaba just raised an eyebrow at them, humming, unconvinced, but didn't press as she focused on the movie. Mishima hesitated, wanting to argue against the assumption, but Akira leaning closer to him distracted him. Akira was practically in his lap... That was too much, and Mishima found himself pulling away, muttering some excuse about how it was time for him to take his meds. For a split second, Akira looked hurt, but he just smiled and let Mishima go, which really didn't help the bluenette, since it made him feel guilty. To reduce Akira's bad feelings, Mishima hesitated before quickly running a hand through Akira's hair, blushing as he turned and headed down the stairs without a single look back. Once down there, he was greeted by the sight of just Boss, who smiled a little at him.

"Is Futaba teasing you two?" the older man asked, and Mishima released a pained groan, grabbing his meds from where he'd stored them behind the counter and a glass. As he got some water, Boss smirked and stated, "So... You and Akira are really close..."

Mishima ignored how his cheeks flushed in favour of taking his meds, washing them down with his water before sorting his cup out as he stuttered, "I... He... He's my best friend..."

"Is that all?" Boss asked, tone a combination of curiosity and care. Mishima sighed and shook his head, which made Boss roll his eyes as he went on to press, "And you think he doesn't like you, don't you?"

Mishima actually hesitated there, which made Boss curious. The older man smirked a little as he questioned, "So you figured it out? What do you plan on doing about it?"

"Nothing," Mishima replied instantly, continuing when Boss sent him a confused look, "I... I might in the future, but... I'm not completely sure if he really does feel that way... I need to be certain before I risk it. I don't want to ruin our friendship if I'm wrong..."

Boss hummed understandingly before suggesting that Mishima went back upstairs. The bluenette agreed, thanking Boss before heading up. As he climbed the stairs, he listened out for what Futaba and Akira might have been talking about. They were completely silent... Once actually in Akira's room, Mishima realised why. The pair were completely invested in the movie, leaning forward to get a good look at the screen. It was... too damn adorable for Mishima's heart to handle, but he ignored how his mind was screaming at him to just protect the duo on the couch in favour of walking over and raising an eyebrow.

"Can I sit down please?" he asked. Futaba seemed to hesitate before smirking, the expression making Mishima nervous.

"Akira has a lap for a reason," she teased, and Mishima was too focused on how uncomfortable he felt at the idea of sitting on anyone (even Akira) to really feel embarrassed.

"Uh... No," he replied, rolling his eyes and plopping down on the floor. Something a little sad flashed behind Akira's eyes, so Mishima sighed and muttered, "I don't like sitting on other people..."

Akira frowned at that, but Futaba piping up stopped him asking about it, the ginger girl's voice nothing short of teasing as she suggested, "Akira could sit on you then..."

Mishima blushed brightly at that, an image of what that would be like flashing to the forefront of his mind, unbidden, but rolled his eyes and acted nonchalant as he replied, "I think my  _ broken arm and bruised ribs _ may protest to that."

Something akin to regret danced behind Futaba's eyes, so Mishima shuffled until he was sat in the gap between her and Akira's leg, tilting his head back to look at the guilty-feeling pair as he stated, "I don't blame either of you, you know that, right?"

"They took you because of the Phansite-"

"Which I created, on my own, with no prompting from anyone else," Mishima cut Akira off fondly, turning his head to they were looking each other in the eye, as he continued, "I don't blame you. Alright?"

Akira still looked troubled... Mishima hesitated, unsure if he should go forward with the action his mind had just supplied, but the way Akira was obviously beating himself up about what happened... It hurt Mishima, so he took a deep, grounding breath before shuffling slightly to the side, letting his head fall onto Akira's knee. There was a sharp inhale of breath and Mishima waited, praying that Akira wouldn't be mad or weirded out or shove him away-

There was a hand in his hair. Eyes flicking up, Mishima saw that Akira was watching him closely, judging his reaction, so he smiled slightly, nodding just enough to get his point across without dislodging Akira's hand. The taller teen returned the smile before focusing on the TV, carefully petting Mishima's hair. The bluenette hummed to himself, pleased, and copied Akira. The movie was drawing to a close, the final girl doing her usual lap and finding the bodies of all her dead friends, so Mishima didn't feel bad about not paying it much attention, preferring to focus on the hand in his hair. It was... nice. Not as nice as playing with someone else's hair, but there was something... soothing about it, and it felt pretty good to be pampered for once (even if a small part of him was screaming that he didn't deserve it, that he'd messed up too many times, he was too much of a failure, he was too useless to deserve it). Of course, he had no plans of saying that aloud, but he didn't need to. Akira seemed to understand...

When the movie finally finished, Akira stretched, taking his hand from Mishima's head to complete the action. The bluenette felt a little bereft from the loss, but he knew that staying how he was would be crossing some sort of boundary, that he had to move before he made Akira uncomfortable, that-

"We should play a game!" Futaba suggested, climbing off of the couch to stretch her legs. Mishima considered it for a split second before agreeing, looking up to ask Akira what he wanted to do. Only for his mouth to dry very,  _ very _ suddenly. Akira was still stretching, his arms above his head and his back arched. Which made his top ride up, giving Mishima a perfect view of his lower abdomen and the sharp v of his hips... Mishima had to force himself to look away by sitting up, stretching too to distract himself from the fact that Akira was  _ right there _ and  _ way too attractive _ and  _ fucking hot _ -

"That sounds good," Akira stated, and Mishima sighed with relief at the knowledge that he had to be done with his stretch, only for the sound to become a satisfied moan that he couldn't hold back when his back cracked pleasantly. Once the noise was out, he froze, blushing brightly, but he didn't get the chance to apologise for it he was cut off.

"Yuuki, you can't make noises like that," Futaba whined, pouting a little, "You just can't!"

Mishima blinked in surprise, turning to look at both of the other teens, only to see them both blushing brightly. For a split second, the bluenette was confused, but then he got it. His little moan... He blushed slightly, ducking his head as he mumbled, "I didn't mean to..."

It was silent for a moment, but Akira eventually cleared his throat and asked, "Wh... What do you want to play?"

Futaba was able to pull herself together then, suggesting that they took turns playing an old RPG Akira had. Both of the boys agreed, and they soon found themselves with the game set up and discussing who should play first.

"Youngest to oldest?" Mishima offered, shrugging a little.

"Yeah! That means I'm first then... Who out of you is older?" Futaba frowned as she looked between the boys. Mishima and Akira shared a look, neither quite sure, so the former sighed.

"My birthday's the 27th of December," he stated, earning a raised eyebrow from Akira, who said his was the 20th of January. Mishima hummed in acknowledgement before saying, "So Futaba first, then you Akira, then me."

Futaba and Akira agreed, but then the ginger girl asked, "How are we all going to sit?"

Mishima hesitated for a second, thinking, before suggesting, "We could rotate? Like, you two sit on the couch until Futaba dies, then I sit there and Futaba moves, then when Akira dies Futaba sits there and when I die Akira sits?"

That seemed to please Akira and Futaba, so Mishima stood with another stretch, although this time he was a little more... purposeful about it. He needed to test Akira, after all, so he made sure the other teen could easily see him as he reached his arms up as much as he could, leaning back as his top was tugged up by the gesture. Contrary to popular belief, Mishima had an idea as to how some of his... assets affected people, particularly his abs. Sure, he had confidence issues, but he knew that he was pretty defined and he was proud of that fact. And if he wanted to use that to his advantage... Well, that was up to him... Once he'd finished stretching, he looked at Akira and Futaba, seeing the ginger girl too focused on the game machine to pay him any attention and Akira looking very flustered, cheeks red as he bit his lip and avoided looking at Mishima. The bluenette couldn't fight the little thrill he felt at that, slightly surprised but definitely pleased with Akira's reaction, as he grabbed a lollipop from the bag of mixed ones they'd brought (well, he'd insisted on buying them) before unwrapping it. He'd made sure to grab one of the bigger sweets, but had no issue fitting it in his mouth as he put the wrapper in the bag they were using for a bin, crouching down to do so. As he stood up, he made sure to push his ass out a little without it being too obvious what he was doing. When he had done that, he risked a glance at Akira, who was certainly affected. The taller teen was blushing brighter, his eyes dark and focused on Mishima's lips, wrapped tight around his lollipop stick, as he crossed his legs tightly. Mishima pulled his lolly out of his mouth, keeping an eye on Akira as he did, before asking, "Is it okay if I wait on your bed for my turn, Akira?"

He'd purposefully pitched his voice a little lower than usual, and it got the desired reaction from Akira, who shifted uncomfortably, flushed brighter and stuttered out, "Uh... S... Sure."

Mishima smiled at that, popping his lolly back in his mouth so he could run a hand through Akira's hair on his way to the younger teen's bed. Once there, he sat against the headboard, crossing his legs to hide his own reaction to how flustered Akira was. It... felt amazing to tease Akira, to draw blushes and stutters from the usually unflappable teen. But it was also kind of embarrassing, so Mishima vowed that he wouldn't go too hard too fast, else he'd just make a fool of himself... He glanced over at Futaba and Akira, watching as the ginger girl turned her head to look at him and winked. He glared back, a little flustered, but she just smirked and focused on her game. Akira seemed to be on his phone, judging by how he was looking down... Mishima pulled out his switchblade, twirling it between his fingers as he watched Futaba play the game. She was good... She actually managed to get pretty far before dying, but once she did she and Mishima swapped seats. Akira took the controller from his pseudo-sister as Mishima settled next to him.

"Don't flirt too loudly," Futaba teased, smirking a little as she crouched on Akira's bed and pulled out her phone. Mishima rolled his eyes and flipped her off before looking at Akira, who had very pink cheeks still...

"Are you okay?" he asked the younger teen quietly, smiling a little when Akira nodded and muttered something about Futaba being embarrassing. Mishima had to agree... He hummed a note of understanding as he started to twirl his switchblade again, dancing it between his fingers and along his hand with practised ease. The action seemed to catch Akira's attention, since the taller teen looked over at him and accidentally walked right into a fight. Mishima chuckled at the flash of panic that appeared behind Akira's eyes before whispering lowly, "That guy's using ice, so he's probably weak to fire. Use that..."

Akira focused on the game then, following Mishima's advice and taking out the enemy easily. That made the older teen hum, pleased, as he muttered a quiet, "Good..."

That single word made Akira blush slightly, and Mishima filed that tidbit of information away for later use but remained silent. He did give Akira the occasional bit of advice, which allowed him to get past the boss that had killed Futaba. Of course, the ginger girl caught onto what they were doing.

"Hey!" she called, indignant, "That's cheating!"

"We never said we couldn't help each other," Mishima countered, finally finished with his lolly and leaning down to put the stick in the bag. He was still holding his blade, which made the action a little more difficult, but he ignored that as he got rid of the stick. Silently, skillfully, he then flipped the blade in the air, catching it and shutting it easily before slipping it in his pocket and getting another, bigger lolly. Again, it was an easy fit, and he sucked on it absentmindedly as he pulled out his phone and checked on the Phansite. Unsurprisingly, it was swamped with hatred and people talking shit, but Mishima didn't let that phase him as he started to wade through all the comments... He remained focused on his phone until Akira muttered his name. Looking up, the bluenette saw that Akira had died, so he smiled and took the controller from his crush with a fond, "Thanks Akira," around his lollypop. The action made a little drool slip onto his lip, which almost embarrassed him. Almost. The way Akira flushed slightly as he eyes trailed the liquid made up for it, especially when his eyes darkened when Mishima licked it up...

"Could you two stop flirting for ten minutes?" Futaba asked, appearing by Akira suddenly. Mishima flushed brightly, rolling his eyes as he muttered 'fuck you Futaba' under his breath. That made the ginger girl giggle as she retorted, "I'm pretty sure you want to get fucked, but okay..."

Mishima couldn't help the small amount of laughter that burst from him as he pulled his lolly from his mouth, voice mirthful as he asked, "What about me makes you think I'm a bottom?"

Futaba raised an eyebrow at that, but it was Akira's reaction that distracted Mishima. The taller teen's breath had caught, his eyes widening minutely and his cheeks darkening as he stared at Mishima. The two boys kept up eye contact for a long moment, but Futaba laughing loudly distracted them both.

"You two are so fucking gay for each other..." she teased, smirking when both boys blushed and glared at her, "Now move it Akira. And give Yuuki the controller."

Akira did as he was told with an eye-roll, although not without a lingering look at Mishima, who smirked at him from around his lolly. Of course, as soon as he focused on the controller, Mishima realised he had an issue...

"Shit," he muttered, frowning a little. Futaba made a curious noise, and Mishma just half-raised his broken arm and sighed, "This is going to be... difficult. But possible..."

Futaba didn't seem to believe him, and he felt a rush at the challenge. Without hesitation, he reloaded from the last checkpoint and got sucked into the game

/-/-/-\=\=\=\=/-/-/-\=\=\=\

The trio kept it up like that until the early afternoon, when Boss called them downstairs for lunch. They all settled at the counter, Mishima on the stool between Akira and Futaba as they started to consume what Boss had made for them. For a while, they remained quiet, happy to just eat and drink in peace, but once she was finished, Futaba spoke up, "So... When do you have to leave, Yuuki?"

"Probably not until around five. Why?" the bluenette responded after a moment of thought, side-eyeing Futaba as she smirked.

"Ann, Haru and Makoto are coming over. They should be arriving soon, actually..." she replied, and Mishima felt his heart drop. Ah, that made sense... He forced himself to smile as naturally as he could as he nodded.

"Ah... I'll get out of your hair before they arrive then," he stated, shrugging faux nonchalantly. That made Futaba frown, though, but she didn't get the chance to speak, three very specific girls entering distracting her. The trio by the door smiled when they saw the three at the counter, which made no sense to Mishima. They were supposed to not want him there, not  _ smile  _ like they liked his presence...

"Yay! I was expecting you to have left as soon as Futaba told you we were coming over, Mishima!" Takamaki beamed at him, which just confused him further. They... wanted him there? But... why? Why did they-

"I didn't tell him until just before you got here," Futaba stated, shrugging and smirking a little when Niijima complained, "Please, he wouldn't have stayed otherwise."

That made Mishima even more confused, and it must have shown on his face, since Okumura stepped forward and spoke softly, "We... Well, Ann suggested we did each other's make-overs and wanted to include Futaba, but Futaba would only do it if you and Akira take part too..."

Mishima raised an eyebrow at that, looking over at Futaba, who smiled slightly as she said, "You and Akira both deserve to be pampered a bit. And the best way to do that is a make-over!"

Unable to see a way out, Mishima sighed and muttered, "I'm only doing it if I can do Futaba's make-up."

All of the girls cheered at that, and even Akira smiled a little, so it didn't seem too bad of a choice...

Twenty minutes later, when the girls had set up everything they had, Mishima retracted that statement. Their selection of clothes consisted of dresses, skirts, jeans and a few tops, along with way too many accessories and jackets. And their make-up collection... It was larger than any Mishima had ever seen. And they wanted to use some on him... He sighed, listening as the girls started to discuss who would be dressing up who.

"Mishima already called doing my make-up, so he can do my entire outfit," Futaba suggested, earning a wave of agreement from the other girls, so she grinned and declared, "I bagsy doing Ann's!"

Takamaki agreed easily, stating that she wanted to Akira's look. The taller teen looked vaguely uncomfortable for a second before nodding in agreement and muttering, "I'm doing Haru's look."

The pink girl agreed before asking Niijima if she could so her make-over, to which Niijima. That left the student council president with Mishima... They all agreed to do the make-over's separately, starting with Okumura, so everyone except the pink girl and Akira trekked back down the stairs. The actual cafe was blessedly empty when they all got down there, and Mishima soon found himself perched at the end of one of the booths next to Futaba. He was... uncomfortable, to say the least. But he didn't do or say anything, just pretended that he was completely fine...

"We should probably set boundaries for what we will and won't wear, right?" Takamaki asked, taking a sip of the coffee Boss had made her. All of the other teens agreed, so she turned her attention to Futaba and continued, "I'm okay with most things! Except for really dark colours. They just clash on me, ya know?"

"Fair enough," Futaba hummed, before looking at Mishima, who raised an eyebrow at her as she stated, "I'm not into anything too revealing. Like low-cut dresses or short skirts or anything."

Mishima hummed in agreement, a few ideas already forming behind his eyes as he turned to Niijima and stuttered out, "I... I'm okay with anything, re... really. Except yellow. It... It doesn't go with my skin..."

The student council president raised an eyebrow at that, seemingly unable to help herself as she asked, "Even dresses or skirts?"

Mishima paused at that, blinking before considering it. He'd never tried that before, but it seemed kinda interesting... He shrugged, muttering a quiet, "Sure, why not?"

Niijima seemed very much surprised at that, but Takamaki spoke before she had the chance to, exclaiming, "You'd look so good in a dress, Mishima!"

The bluenette in question blushed at the compliment, hiding his small smile behind his cup of coffee, and was promptly distracted by Futaba's teasing voice singing, "I bet Akira would love to see you in a dress or skirt~"

That made Mishima blush even harder as he glared at Futaba, who was happy to smirk at him. He kept glaring for a long moment before sighing and hiding in his coffee again as he muttered, "Fuck off."

"Pretty sure you wan to fu-"

"Okay," Mishima cut Futaba off there, glaring at her, "Let's change the subject."

"Wait... You have a crush-"

"Takamaki!" Mishima hissed, cutting off Takamaki's loud exclamation, "He might hear you if you're that loud!"

Takamaki winced apologetically, but Niijima cut her off with a firm but quieter, "You have feelings for Akira?"

Mishima shrank under the older teen's piercing gaze, hesitating before nodding. Niijima seemed to examine him for a few moments before sighing and leaning across the table. She opened her mouth to say something, but her eyes caught sight of something over Mishima's shoulder that made her stop. Mishima turned his head, blinking in surprise at what he saw. Okumura was stood at the bottom of the stairs, cheeks a little pink as she fiddled with the sleeve of her oversized jumper. Her entire outfit was rather... simple, but it screamed cuteness, everything from the white, knee-length skirt and black kitten heels to the black, oversized sweater with a cat's face stitched onto it and the ebony cat ears perched atop her head just freaking adorable.

"I..." Niijima started, standing and walking closer to Okumura before clearing her throat and trying again, "You look... really nice."

Okumura flushed at the compliment, giggling a little before reaching out and grasping Niijima's hand with a call over her shoulder of, "I'll do Mako-chan's makeover now!"

As soon as the girls were out of sight, Akira sighed and walked over, taking the seat Niijima had just vacated and asking, "What were you talking about?"

"Everyone's boundaries when it comes to their make-overs," Mishima replied, elbowing Futaba subtly and kicking Takamaki slightly. Both girls agreed without complaint, although Futaba did elbow Mishima back.

Akira hummed in understanding before leaning forward, letting his elbow land on the table as his hand propped his head up. He kept his eyes locked on Mishima, a hint of a smirk tugging at his lips as he stated, "I don't have anything that comes to mind, for my make-over..."

Mishima raised an eyebrow at that but didn't seem to be the only one who picked up on the implications, as Takamaki gasped out, "Even a dress or a skirt?"

The image of Akira in a dress flashed through Mishima's mind, unbidden, as the taller teen nodded. Takamaki blinked rapidly before grinning and exclaiming, "You and Mishima are okay with dresses and skirts!"

Akira seemed taken aback by that, but he didn't get the chance to ask anything, because Futaba pipped up first, "I can practically imagine you two drooling over each other in dresses..."

Mishima groaned in annoyance at the comment, elbowing Futaba lightly. She retaliated by kicking him slightly, so he used his good hand to tickle her side playfully. She giggled at that, pulling away and calling for mercy, which Mishima awarded her after a couple more seconds of tickling. The bluenette then picked his coffee back up, taking a sip and keeping direct eye contact with Akira as he muttered lowly, "I'm actually pretty curious as to how you'd look in a dress, Akira..."

That made Akira blush a little, but he smirked and stated, "The same goes for you, Yuuki."

There was a challenging spark in Akira's eyes, and Mishima couldn't back down, so he ignored the heat in his cheeks and murmured, "I guess we'll have to see what Niijima and Tamamaki pick out for us..."

Akira hummed in agreement, his smirk growing a little, and the quartet of teens lapsed into silence as they waited for Niijima and Okumura... Eventually, the girls came down the stairs, both blushing a little bit. Mishima turned his head to view Okumura's work, and let out a low, appreciative hum. Niijima was now dressed in a pair of ripped black jeans, a dark grey t-shirt with a small heart over where her's would be, a rather tasteful leather jacket and some pretty killer ankle boots... And Okumura had done her make-up, giving her smoky eyes, dark lips and longer lashes. It suited her...

"Mishima," Niijima called, "I'm doing your makeover now, if that is alright."

Mishima stood and nodded, following Niijima up the stairs, but not before sending a small smirk Akira's way and watching the younger teen fluster. As soon as he and Niijima were in Akira's room, Mishima felt his confidence dip, but forced himself to take a deep breath and ask, "Uh... P... Please c... could I wear a skirt?"

Niijima raised an eyebrow at that before smirking as she responded with, "If you're doing it to impress Akira, sure."

Those simple words made Mishima relax, and he nodded. For a second, Niijima just watched him, seemingly examining him, before walking over to where all of the skirts were. She sifted through the pile for a few minutes before showing two to Mishima. He hesitated, eyes flicking between the pale blue, shorter wrap skirt and the longer, ebony and silky slit skirt...

"The black one," he stated after a moment's more contemplation, earning a hum from Niijima, who frowned and held the skirt in front of Mishima. She seemed to be thinking of something...

"How hairy are your legs?" she asked, handing Mishima the skirt and walking over to the tights and socks the girls had brought. Mishima blinked at the question, before replying with a quiet 'hairless'. When Niijima sent him a confused look, he explained that he just preferred the feel of smooth skin. She hummed, glancing back at the skirt before asking, "How do you feel about thigh-highs and quarter belts?"

"They're cool, if you can find any that might fit me," Mishima replied, walking closer. Niijima hummed again, thinking, before grabbing a pair of socks and a quarter belt. She passed them to Mishima before moving over to the tops. Here, she seemed to have the most difficulty, frowning as she shifted through the countless wraps, blouses, crop tops-

"What about a crop top?" Mishima suggested, and Niijima blinked in surprise at him before grinning, riffling through the tops with a renewed vigour. And soon, she found what she was looking for... She held the top out to Mishima, who examined it for a moment. It was pure black again, except for a small moon on the centre of the chest, just under what could only be called a boob window, and had off-the-shoulder sleeves... It was perfect. 

Mishima grinned, taking the shirt before walking over to the small changing area that had been set up next to Akira's bed, stepping behind the make-shift curtain. He was able to handle changing his trousers for the skirt, but again his top was a struggle... He tried not to make a big deal out of it, but Niijima heard him struggling and walked around the curtain, helping him without a word. He flushed at the action, but it was more embarrassment than anything. Thankfully, he was able to handle the quarter belt and socks himself, although he did need Niijima to attach them to each other...

"How do you feel about make-up?" Niijima asked once Mishima was done changing. The younger teen hesitated, considering it, before saying he was cool with it. That led to Niijima sitting him on Akira's couch, carefully applying eyeliner to him. She'd decided to forgo anything too much, stating that she only had limited experience with make-up herself so she didn't want to risk it.

"So... Do you plan on telling Akira about your feelings for him?" Niijima suddenly asked, almost making Mishima flinch (he was able to stop himself at the last second). He hesitated before muttering a quiet 'no'. Niijima sent him a questioning look, so he hesitated before sighing.

"I... I'm trying to see if he has feelings for me too," he replied, shrugging a little, "S... So far, I've figured he at least has some sort of se... physical attraction to me, b... but I need to see how far those feelings run, a... and if there's anything more to it..."

Niijima hummed, understanding, as she moved onto Mishima's lips. They were both silent as she worked, and once she was done she took a picture and showed Mishima. He was... surprised, by the look. But pretty happy with it. He didn't know he could look that good... He turned to Niijima, smiling, and said, "Thanks Niijima! You did amazing!"

The girl rolled her eyes a little, smiling as she replied, "Call me Makoto. And you're the one who chose the skirt and suggested the crop top."

Mishima couldn't argue with that, so he just told Nii- Makoto that she could call him Yuuki before focusing on shoes... He hesitated before grabbing a simple pair of black pumps, sitting on the couch to put them on before standing shakily. It took a couple of laps around Akira's room, but Mishima was soon able to walk easily in the heels, so he and Makoto headed down. Once there, Mishima felt his anxiety peak, but the reaction he got from Akira was priceless... The taller teen froze, eyes wide and dark as he gulped, very clearly checking Mishima out... He wasn't the only one who noticed Mishima, and the bluenette soon found himself being pulled over to the booth by Futaba, who was babbling about how good he looked. He smiled a little at the ginger girl, blushing, but was quickly distracted.

"I... Wow," Akira breathed out, visibly awestruck, "You... You look amazing, Yuuki..."

Mishima's blush darkened, but he pushed past that in favour of leaning to the side, feeling the slit of his skirt falling to reveal his leg and what he wore on it as he practically purred, "Thank you, Akira..."

The younger boy's eyes seemed to be flicking all over Mishima, unable to settle on just one piece of exposed skin, which made Mishima's heart race. Some small part of him wanted Akira to only look at him like that, no one else, but he shoved that thought down as he smirked a little and tilted his head to look at Futaba, purposefully exposing his neck as he asked, "Are you ready for your makeover, Futaba?"

The ginger girl agreed readily, rushing up the stairs. Mishima rolled his eyes, sending Akira one last smirk before following Futaba...

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Mishima didn't really pay much attention as almost everyone else had their makeovers. He had to admit, he'd done a decent job with Futaba, and Takamaki had even complimented him on his make-up work! But he didn't really care about any of that, not until Akira walked down the stairs after his makeover...

The tall teen was even taller due to the four-inch heels he was wearing, but they also helped to accentuate his legs, which were completely on display in silver tights. The dress he wore -a deep crimson thing with a turtle neck and the hem falling just about mid-thigh- left nothing to the imagination and the deep, smoky look of his make-up added a hint of danger to the entire ensemble... Akira seemed to pick up on Mishima's reaction, smirking as he walked closer to the bluenette and asked lowly, "Do you like it?"

Mishima just nodded, unable to speak since he was too busy trying to not reach out and fuck Akira silly right there and then... Akira seemed to get the message, though, since he forced Mishima to move further into the booth and sat next to him, pressing right against his side. The duo were in full contact from knee to shoulder, and Mishima was burning up from the inside. It was one thing to be this close to Akira before, but when Akira was dressed up like that? When Mishima knew that Akira at least wanted him sexually? When they had both been flirting? It was... a blessing and a curse. Mishima wanted nothing more than to do something about the sexual tension that was bubbling away under the surface, but he couldn't. Not yet. He couldn't just sleep with Akira, he needed more than that...

"We should take a picture!" Takamaki exclaimed suddenly, and Mishima agreed instantly. He really wanted a picture of Akira, dressed like he was and looking so tempting... 

Soon, all of the teens found themselves posing against the counter, Boss standing near a booth to take the picture. Mishima made sure to stand near Akira, not that the other teen seemed to have any qualms about that... At first, the pair just posed next to each other, Mishima leaning against the bar with his legs crossed and on full display through his slit and Akira sat as politely as he could in his dress. Next, the entire group changed slightly, pressing closer together. This gave Mishima the opportunity to wrap a possessive arm around Akira's waist as the taller teen curled one around his shoulders. The third and final photo, though, was Mishima's favourite. He let the sultry persona he'd put up for the first two pictures fall as he beamed at the camera, resting his head against Akira's chest. It was good, hearing the other teen's heartbeat after what had happened...

Of course, the moment couldn't last forever, and he soon had to get dressed back into his normal clothes, wipe off the make-up and head home. He hated leaving, but on the train to his aunt's, he was awarded something that almost made up for it... Futaba had sent him several pictures, including the three they'd all taken together, two of Akira's reaction to Mishima's outfit and four more of Akira in his dress... Mishima blushed a little at the sight, sending Futaba a quick thanks before tucking his phone in his pocket. He kept it there as he got to Kawakami's, as he listened to his aunt ramble about Takemi, as he ate dinner, as he got dressed for bed. He only looked at it again in the safety of his temporary room, examining all of the pictures closely as heat burned in his gut...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, we'll be back to our usually scheduled one shots!


End file.
